The Battalion formed part of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General Francis Earl Johnston, and Young departed New Zealand on board the troopship "Limerick" on 15 October 1914. This vessel was one of twelve troop ships of the main body of the NZEF escorted in convoy by Allied warships, which stopped at Hobart, Albany and Colombo before arriving at the Suez Canal on 1 December 1914. The NZEF established a training camp at Zeitoun and Young, under the direction of his Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel William George Malone, began training his 9th (Hawke's Bay) Company troops until the New Zealand Infantry Brigade was called forward to participate in British operations against the Ottomans in the Suez Canal area from January to February 1915. On return from the field the battalion resumed its training, until the newly formed New Zealand and Australian Division departed for the invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula in late April 1915.