In September 1914, just before the Ottoman Empire entered the war on Germany's side, six of the regiment's battalions joined the Egypt garrison. They belonged to the East Lancashire Division of the Territorial Force, which was selected to release Regular Army troops for service in active theatres. Serving in the division were the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th battalions, with the latter two as part of the East Lancashire Brigade (which also included two battalions, the 4th and 5th, of the East Lancashire Regiment) and the other four the Manchester Brigade. In May 1915, the division was numbered as the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division and the brigades were numbered, the Manchester Brigade becoming &lt;a href="127th%20%28Manchester%29%20Brigade"&gt;127th (1/1st Manchester) Brigade&lt;/a&gt; and the East Lancashire Brigade the &lt;a href="126th%20%28East%20Lancashire%29%20Brigade"&gt;126th (1/1st East Lancashire) Brigade&lt;/a&gt;. In the same month, the division landed at Cape Helles, Gallipoli to reinforce the British beachheads established during the initial landings in April.