For the next two years, the brigade took part in several major operations. In early 1917, the Germans shortened their lines and withdrew to the prepared positions of the Hindenburg Line. After this, the brigade took part in the Battle of Bullecourt and the Third Battle of Ypres. Early the following year, the collapse of the Russian Empire enabled the Germans to transfer a large number of troops from the Eastern Front to the west, and they subsequently launched the Spring Offensive. As the offensive drove the Allies back, the brigade was transferred south from Belgium to the Somme, with its infantry battalions manning positions around Villers-Bretonneux, where they were involved in heavy fighting during the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux securing flanking positions to the north of the town, resisting heavy attack.