The Western Front was a completely different location to what the Regiment had been used to in the sub-continent and they, as indeed did the other Indian Army troops, suffered badly during the winter months. As a result, in December 1915 it was decided that the infantry units of the Indian Corps would be withdrawn from France and sent to other theatres. As a result, the 1st Battalion, along with the rest of the 3rd Division, was sent to Mesopotamia to take part in the campaign against the Ottomans which had begun in 1914. The Sirhind Brigade was given a numerical designation, the 8th Brigade. In 1916 the 1st Gurkhas took part in a number of attempts, including the attack on Dujaila Redoubt in March, to relieve Kut-al-Amara, which had been besieged by the Ottomans since 7 December 1915. Those attempts, however, failed and Kut remained under siege until it surrendered to the Ottomans on 29 April 1916.