In January 1916 he was seconded to the newly created Machine Gun Corps (MGC) and served with the 1st and 2nd Brigade machine gun companies, serving with them during the Somme offensive in the second half of 1916. He was promoted to lieutenant on 17 March 1916, and, in October, was sent to England, where he attended the Machine Gun Training Centre at Grantham, Lincolnshire and, returning to the Western Front, was promoted to the acting rank of captain on 12 February 1917, and assumed command of the 232nd Machine Gun Company, which in July became part of the 51st (Highland) Division, a Territorial Force (TF) formation.