 While Bishop he travelled all over his diocese, as he had while a missionary, and continued to pay especial attention to the affairs of the Karenni.Upon reaching Rangoon to assume the bishopric, he wrote;

He continued to voyage back and forth to England, being particularly involved with the Rangoon Diocesan Association.Seemingly unaffected by the outbreak of the Second World War, while travelling on 9 June 1941 West was involved in a serious motor car accident which left him unconscious for three weeks.