During the Second World War he was credited with sinking three German U-boats—U-463, U-663, and U-563—in one month while serving in RAF Coastal Command.

He was in charge of the British nuclear tests of hydrogen bombs in the Pacific Ocean in Operation Grapple in 1957.

[2] He represented the RAF College at boxing and was awarded the Abdy Gerrard Fellowes Memorial Prize.

[3] Oulton graduated at the top of his class, and was commissioned as a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force on 25 July 1931.

He joined the staff of RAF Hal Far on 29 November 1933, and married Sarah (Terry) Davies in Malta in 1935.

[4] Oulton was promoted to wing commander on 1 March 1941,[3] and sent to Washington, DC, to organise training in North America for RAF navigators.

[7] In October 1943, Oulton became commander of RAF Lajes, a newly established base in the Portuguese Azores.

[2][8] He was promoted to group captain on 1 January 1944,[3] and became commander of the flying boat base at RAF Castle Archdale in Northern Ireland.

He joined the faculty of the Joint Services Staff College in 1948, and was promoted to group captain again on 1 Jan 1949.

[2][3] In 1956, the British hydrogen bomb programme approached fruition, and preparations began for a nuclear test series, which was given the secret codename Operation Grapple.

[19] Oulton was promoted to the substantive rank of air vice-marshal on 1 January 1958,[20] and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1958 New Year Honours.

[21] His final posting was on 21 April 1958, as Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters Coastal Command at RAF Northwood.

He wrote two books, Christmas Island Cracker (1987), about his experiences in Operation Grapple, and Technocrat (1995), a biography of the American nuclear scientist Allen Crocker.