On 8 February 1910, Hill Child was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in the part-time Territorial Force and was appointed commanding officer of the II North Midland Brigade in the Royal Field Artillery. He was in command when the brigade was mobilised as part of the 46th (North Midland) Division in the First World War and served with it on the Western Front. The brigade was later numbered CCXXXI (231). 46th Division saw its first major action at the Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt in October 1915. Hill Child was awarded the DSO in 1916.