 Paton arrived in France on 19 March 1916 and commanded several brigades during his tour on the Western Front.On 5 November, while directing an attack on a trench known as "The Maze", Paton was wounded by a German sniper and evacuated to England.On 24 August 1918 following frustration at being passed over for divisional command multiple times, Paton elected to retire and returned to Australia.