He started his military career as a private in the 8th Regiment, Royal Rifles.

He was promoted to major-general in April 1916[1] and took command of the 4th Canadian Division upon its creation in 1916.

Aided by Edmund Ironside, he led his various commands in most of the major Canadian battles of World War I, including Second Ypres, the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Amiens, Second Arras, and Cambrai.

In late 1917, he and Victor Odlum saved their commanding officer, Arthur Currie, from a career-ending charge of embezzlement by lending Currie enough money so that he could repay a large sum he had borrowed from regimental funds before the war.

[2] After the war, he resumed his job at the Quebec Chronicle and became the majority owner.