No reinforcements reached the Wessex units during 1915, and their strength began to dwindle, made worse by the loss of many of the best Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) who were taken away for officer training. There was also a requirement to provide reinforcements for other theatres of war: the 1/5th sent a draft of 50 men to the 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regiment who were lost at the Fall of Kut in Mesopotamia. By 1916 it was clear that the complete 43rd (Wessex) Division could not be returned to the Western Front as intended, so instead training was pushed forwards in India, some drafts were received (including a contingent from 2/5th Devons, then in Egypt), and the remaining units prepared for service in Mesopotamia.