Oldfield of the Royal Field Artillery, his father was killed in action two days before his first birthday during the Second Anglo-Boer War.
[1] Educated at Eton College, Oldfield was commissioned as an officer in the Grenadier Guards in the latter stages of the First World War.
[1] He also took an interest in social matters, and began voluntary work at Toynbee Hall in the East End of London and joined the Labour Party in the early 1920s.
Oldfield chose to join the latter group, and when a general election was held in October 1931, was defeated along with most of his Labour colleagues.
[1][2][6] With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Oldfield attempted to rejoin the armed forces, but was initially rejected due to his age.