The 2nd Battalion landed at Rouen as part of the 7th Brigade in the 3rd Division in August 1914 and in the remainder of that year saw action at the Battle of Mons, Battle of Le Cateau, First Battle of the Marne, First Battle of the Aisne, Battle of La Bassée and the Battle of Messines. By September 1914, only 6 officers and 200 men of the Battalion's original 1,100 men were still in active service. By October the battalion had been further reduced to two officers and 46 men and by the end of 1914, 97 per cent of the original battalion had been killed, injured or taken prisoner.