 Claude and his older brothers went to Pershore National Boys' School, though Douglas (born 1893) and Leslie (born 1894) emigrated to Western Australia in 1911.Choules was 13 on the outbreak of the First World War, and the family received letters from Douglas and Leslie who had joined the Australian Imperial Force and landed at Anzac Cove during the Gallipoli Campaign.Choules was able to leave school when he turned 14, at which point he attempted to enlist in the army as a bugler boy but was rejected as he was too young.