Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - An haifi Boulton a 1912 a Braxted Park a Essex ga ɗan siyasa Sir William Boulton, 1st Baronet, kuma ya halarci Kwalejin Eton kafin ya shiga Kwalejin Trinity, Cambridge. Rikodin karatunsa bai yi fice ba, amma ya sami damar shiga cikin Haikali a cikin 1936 a matsayin lauya mai aiki. Da barkewar Yaƙin Duniya na Biyu, Boulton, wanda ya riga ya kasance tare da Essex Yeomanry, ya shiga Royal Horse Artillery kuma ya yi aiki a Arewacin Afirka. A cikin 1940 ya shiga cikin Operation Compass, yana yaƙi a Yaƙin Bardia
sa'an nan kuma Siege na Tobruk, inda ya kamu da jaundice kuma aka kwashe zuwa Alexandria. Ya koma aikin gaba ba da daɗewa ba bayan haka amma ya ji rauni sosai a fashewar ma'adinai.