Whereas the Wessex Division sailed to relieve Regular troops in India, the 1/8th Battalion was left training at Parkhurst. However, on 19 April 1915 it was assigned to 163rd (Norfolk and Suffolk) Brigade in 54th (East Anglian) Division to replace the 1/4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, which had already gone overseas. The 54th (EA) Division had been employed on coast defence, but now it was preparing to go overseas, completing its training at Bury St Edmunds and Watford. On 30 July 1915 the Isle of Wight Rifles sailed from Liverpool aboard the RMS "Aquitania" (some wood of which now forms a bar in Sandown Broadway), to join the fighting at Gallipoli.