The son of a soldier, Charbonneau initially came to political activism as a member of the Action Française before embarking on a varied career with a number of far right groups.
[1] A close associate of Jean Filliol, he followed him into the Camelots du Roi militia group before, in 1930, becoming the co-editor of the journal La France Ouvrière with Henry Coston.
[1] Losing interest in the group, he enlisted in Milice, which was commanded by his uncle by marriage Joseph Darnand and took over editing duties on their journal Combats.
[2] Despite this Charbonneau was not overly enthusiastic about the existence of the Milice, and encouraged members to enlist in the Waffen-SS and serve on then Eastern Front.
[3] He fled to Germany in 1944 and from his base in Berlin he served the Nazi Party as a propagandist before fleeing first to Milan and finally to Switzerland from where he was extradited to France.