Bath. In June, General Lambton, the British Commander in Chief's Military Secretary, wrote to King George V recommending Generals Julian Byng, Snow and Edwin Alderson, as candidates for command of the proposed Canadian Corps. Alderson, the commander of the 1st Canadian Division, was appointed to command the Canadian Corps and on 15 July, Snow became commander of VII Corps. 1916 VII Corps delivered an attack upon the German-held trench fortress of the Gommecourt salient on 1 July 1916, as a part of the opening of the Battle of the Somme offensive. The object was to pinch off the salient and beat off counter-attacks, whilst also serving as a diversion from the main offensive further south. Snow did not think Gommecourt a good place for a feint and protested to the Third Army HQ but GHQ insisted the attack go ahead. Edmonds later wrote that Snow was more scared of Haig and of Allenby, his army commander, than he was of the enemy. A senior officer of the 46th (North Midland) Division later wrote that Snow "had purposely taken no care" to keep preparations secret. He was hampered by the fact that most of the German artillery was hidden behind Gommecourt Wood, out of range of all but the heaviest British guns, whilst there was insufficient British artillery (sixteen 18-pounder field guns and four 4.5 howitzers per brigade). The 56th (1/1st London) Division captured the German first trench system on the south side of the German salient before being beaten back. The 46th Division's attack, on the northern side, failed. The latter failure was blamed on Edward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, GOC 46th Division, who was later sacked – although there was a consensus that he was a poor general, he may also have been something of a scapegoat to protect Snow (or even the Army commander, Allenby), as competent senior commanders were in short supply and corps commanders were seldom sacked at this stage of the war. After the war Snow wrote that the Gommecourt salient had proven stronger than anticipated. 1917 In 1917 Snow took part in the offensives at the Battle of Arras in the Spring (his corps fought on right (southern) flank of Third Army) and the Battle of Cambrai in November. At Cambrai VII Corps were on the right flank and at one point it was suggested that they might be placed under French command if the French