The 43rd Battalion was raised on 7 March 1916, in Australia during the expansion of Australian Imperial Force (AIF), which took place at the end of the Gallipoli Campaign. Assigned to the 11th Brigade, it formed part of the 3rd Division, and was raised from volunteers drawn mainly from the state of South Australia. With an authorised strength of 1,023 men, after a period of rudimentary training in Australia, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Gordon, the 43rd Battalion departed Australia in June 1916 aboard the transport Afric, bound for the United Kingdom. Sailing via Egypt, they undertook further training on Salisbury Plain, before the 3rd Division was sent to France in late 1916, where they joined the other four infantry divisions of the AIF.