In 1917 and 1919 he twice held the rank of acting Major while commanding a divisional signals company, and in 1920 he was acting lieutenant colonel while still a substantive Captain. In 1922 he left the Signals to attend the Staff College, Camberley, where he encountered many future general officers, including Charles Fullbrook-Leggatt, John Evetts, Thomas Hutton, Keith Simmons and Robert Money. Graduating from Camberley in late 1923, then in 1924 he was appointed to the War Office as Staff Captain. In 1927 he was finally promoted to Major. In 1934, having been promoted to lieutenant colonel, he was appointed to command his old battalion, the 2nd East Yorkshire Regiment. He commanded the battalion, firstly in England and then in Palestine during the Arab revolt in Palestine.