After concentrating at Tel-el-Kebir, the battalion undertook a period of intense training culminating in a desert march to Moascar, before undertaking defensive duties along the Suez Canal. In mid-1916, the AIF's infantry divisions were sent to Europe to fight on the Western Front. After arriving at Marseilles in June 1916, the battalion was committed to the fighting the following month. Amidst heavy fighting on the Somme, the 5th Division made the AIF's debut in Europe, launching a diversionary attack at Fromelles. The attack was disastrous for the Australians, and it was later described as "the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history". Having gone in during the first wave of the assault, the 54th suffered heavily, losing 65 percent of its strength, equating to 20 officers and 518 other ranks. After the battle, the battalion regrouped at Bac-St-Maur before taking up defensive positions to the right of Bois Grenier. Reinforced, they remained at the front until September, rotating between the main defensive position and the village of Fleurbaix. Its final action in the area was a raid on the German trenches opposite their own.