 Despite his wife's disapproval, Statton enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 29 February 1916, and was allotted to the newly raised 40th Battalion as a private. Appointed lance corporal on 22 May, Statton embarked from Hobart aboard HMAT Berrima on 1 July, bound for England. The troopship disembarked at Devonport a little over seven weeks later, where the 40th Battalion spent the next three months training.
