The units pushed on with training to prepare for active service, handicapped by the need to provide experienced manpower for active service units. By early 1916 it had become obvious that it would not be possible to transfer the division to the Western Front as originally intended. Nevertheless, individual units of the division proceeded overseas on active service through the rest of the war. All three artillery brigades went to Mesopotamia in 1916 (III Home Counties) and 1917 (I and II Home Counties) and, likewise, so did 1/5th Queen's, 1/5th Buffs, 1/5th East Surrey, &lt;a href="9th%20Battalion%2C%20Middlesex%20Regiment"&gt;1/9th Middlesex&lt;/a&gt;, 1/5th QORWK infantry battalions. In addition, the &lt;a href="4th%20Battalion%2C%20Queen%27s%20Royal%20Regiment%20%28West%20Surrey%29"&gt;1/4th Queen's&lt;/a&gt;, the 1/4th and 2/4th Border, and the 1/4th QORWK took part in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919.