The battalion's first major action in France was at Pozières in July 1916. Later the battalion fought at Ypres, in Belgium, before returning to the Somme in winter. At Bullecourt in May 1917, George Howell became the third member of the battalion to receive the Victoria Cross. In 1918, the 1st Battalion helped to stop the German spring offensive in March and April before taking part in the Hundred Days Offensive that was launched near Amiens on 8 August 1918 and ultimately brought an end to the war. The battalion remained in the line until late September 1918, when they were withdrawn from the front along with the rest of the Australian Corps for rest and retraining in anticipation of further operations. On 21 September all but one member of "D" Company refused to take part in an attack as a protest against the battalion being sent back into combat when it had been about to be relieved. The members of the company were subsequently imprisoned for desertion; this was the AIF's largest incidence of "combat refusal" during the war and formed part of a general weakening in the force's discipline due to the stresses of prolonged combat. The battalion was out of the line when the Armistice was declared on 11 November 1918. Following the end of hostilities, the process of demobilisation began and slowly the battalion's numbers dwindled as its personnel were repatriated to Australia. They were finally disbanded in May 1919.