the battalion up to full strength. The battalion's first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel Francis Lorenzo, who had previously served with the 10th Battalion, and it had an authorised strength of 1,023 officers and other ranks. After forming at Tel-el-Kebir, the battalion moved to the Suez Canal where they undertook a period of training in the desert until early June. At that time, the four AIF infantry divisions that were based in Egypt were transferred to Europe, where they would later be joined by the 3rd Division, which undertook its initial training in Australia before finalising its preparations in the United Kingdom at the end of the year. Sailing on the transport Arcadian, the 49th Battalion landed in Marseilles, France, on 12 June 1916, and moved up to the front line around Strazelle, arriving on 21 June. For the next two-and-a-half years the battalion would fight in numerous battles in the trenches along the Western Front in France and Belgium. The battalion's first significant action came during the Battle of Mouquet Farm, taking part in two efforts in August and early September. Conceived as a follow on action to the Battle of Pozières to advance the line towards Thiepval to exploit a salient that had developed in the line, the battle proved a costly, and ultimately unsuccessful, introduction to the Western Front for the 4th Division. The first time they were committed in early August they suffered heavily from German artillery, and the second time, although succeeding in capturing the farm, they were eventually pushed back under the weight of strong German counter-attacks. The 49th Battalion suffered heavy casualties in making their debut – 14 officers and 417 other ranks killed or wounded – and did not take part in any more significant attacks for the rest of the year; nevertheless, they rotated through the front a number of times – firstly around Ypres and then later back in the Somme – where they conducted patrols and raids, in between periods of rest, training and manual labour in the rear. After enduring the harsh winter of 1916–17, early in the new year the Germans withdrew between across a broad front between Arras and the Aisne, as part of a plan to shorten their lines and free up reserves. A brief advance followed, as the Australians followed their opponents up, before they were checked by the strongly prepared defences of the