In the early part of the war, he was a Swordfish pilot. "Charles Lamb flew in the thick of the action, mine-laying and U-boat hunting over northern Europe, harrying E-boats at Dunkirk, to being one of the two Swordfish Pathfinder pilots with 815 Squadron FAA at the Battle of Taranto." He flew in the Greek campaign of 1941 and was shot down during an air raid on Malta.