 Sailing via Egypt, they undertook further training on Salisbury Plain, before the 3rd Division was sent to France in late 1916, where they joined the other four infantry divisions of the AIF.For the next two years, the battalion fought in the trenches along the Western Front in France and Belgium, taking part in several major battles.Its first significant action came during the Battle of Messines in June 1917, as part of the successful, but costly, effort to capture the Wytschaete–Messines Ridge near the salient that had developed in the frontline around Ypres.