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His subsequent career with the RCN and the Canadian Forces included service with air and naval squadrons, in training positions and in technical staff positions.

He was, as Senior Technical Officer in VX1O, responsible for the technical management of the development and trials of the "Beartrap" Helicopter Hauldown System pioneered by the RCN.  He contributed a great deal of original design work to this system. Other works included the installation and airworthiness of the AN/UPD-501 in the AS3M AVENGER aircraft. Following this appointment, he was promoted to the rank of Commander and joined the 5th Canadian Escort Squadron as Squadron Technical Officer.He then served in National Defence Headquarters in the Directorate of Aeronautical Engineering, as Program Manager for the Canadair CL-84 Tilt Wing V/STOL Project, and as Deputy Chief of Staff, Leadership and Support Training in Training Command.

He retired early from the Canadian Forces, after four and a half years in the rank of Brigadier General as the Director General, Aerospace Engineering and Maintenance at National Defence Headquarters. In late 1980, Brigadier-General Charlton joined Spar Aerospace Limited and held several positions including that of General Manager of Spar's facility at Kanata, Ontario. It was also during this time that Brigadier-General Charlton became our 1st Chapter President, a position he held for two years.

Mr. Lynnwood Crosby (L) of NRL, presenting Brigadier-General Charlton with our initial AOC Chapter Scroll in 1981.

In April, 1986 he joined Martin Marietta Canada Ltd., as Vice President, Business Development and in July of 1987 he returned to Spar as Vice President, Development. From April, 1989 he was an independent consultant, initially advising Spar on Space Policy and regional business considerations and also representing other companies in the Ottawa area. He was under contract to the Department of National Defence to advise on the integration of the EH101 Helicopter with DDH 280, CPF, and AOR class ships and has carried out a number of business development tasks for Bombardier Inc. Brigadier-General Charlton published a number of articles on various technical and non-technical subjects, a book on the history of VX10, the Navy's Experimental Squadron and also co-edited works regarding the Technical History of Canadian Naval Aviation. He held a Master’s Degree in Science, attended the National Defence College at Kingston and was a registered Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario.

Brigadier-General Charlton 7 October, 2006 (Photo by his son Mark)

It was hoped that Brigadier-General Charlton could participate in the Maple Leaf Chapter 25th Anniversary celebration on 12 October, 2006 where he would be appropriately recognized for his contribution to Canadian EW.  Unfortunately illness prevented his participation and as a result arrangements were made to conduct the award ceremony at his residence.  On 7 October 2006, the President of the Maple Leaf Chapter of Old Crows - Robert Langille - presented Brigadier-General Charlton with the award “Our Grandfather in EW”.  He was honored to accept the award and extended both his best wishes and sincere thanks to the Chapter and all its members - past and present.

At the 12 October 2006 Anniversary celebration, Rear Admiral (Retd) Johnston, the Honorary Patron of the Maple Leaf Chapter, talked to the MLC members about the significance of the award, the inscription thereon, and reminisced about the contribution made by Brigadier-General Charlton not only in field of EW, but to other Naval endeavours including lead design of the Helo-Hauldown System and development of Canadian magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) capabilities.

Inscription on the Grandfather Award presented to Brigadier-General  Peter Charlton (Ret’d)

Our Grandfather, Brigadier-General Charlton, passed away on 16 November, 2006 at the age of 75.  He is Forever in our Memories.