The majority of the battalion's non-commissioned officers were long-serving Citizens Forces soldiers or Regular personnel. Some had previously fought in South Africa during the Boer War and others had previously served in the British Army. Rudimentary training was undertaken at Bellvue, Western Australia, and at the end of October it sailed from Fremantle on the and . Originally bound for the United Kingdom, where they were to complete training, after stopovers in the Cocos Islands and Colombo, their orders were changed due to concerns about overcrowding in training camps in the United Kingdom and at the start of December, the battalion arrived at Mena Camp in Cairo, Egypt. There, the battalion's eight companies were reorganised into the four that existed under the British Army establishment and further training was undertaken. The battalion remained in Egypt until early March 1915 when it sailed on and from Alexandria to the island of Lemnos in the Aegean sea, in preparation for the Landing at Anzac Cove.