Arthur Nesbit Charlton initially joined Homeboarders’ house in September 1909, but became a King’s Scholar in 1910. As a Scholar he would have attended the coronation of King George V in Westminster Abbey on 22nd June 1911.
Charlton was athletic at school, receiving his full pinks and playing for the College XI and the school 1st XI. He spoke at the Debating Society, opposing a motion, in 1913, that ‘in the opinion of this House Great Britain should not participate in the Olympic Games at Berlin’. He performed in the Latin Play two years running, first as Ancilula in Terence’s Famulus and then in Andria, where his ‘pleasant voice and a Christmassy appearance combined to make Crito’s tardy intrusion into the plot very welcome.’
He was elected to a scholarship at Christ Church, Oxford, in July 1914, but on the outbreak of war decided to join the army. He took a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 7th Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment, he rose through the ranks, attaining the role of Captain in November 1916. He served on the Western Front from May 1915, and received a mention in dispatched on 4th January 1917. Charlton was awarded the Military Cross on 30th June 1917.
His obituary in The Elizabethan noted:
‘All who knew him deplore the frustration of a promising career and of so many good qualities of head and heart.’