 After the withdrawal from Gallipoli the Australians returned to Egypt and the AIF underwent a major expansion . In 1916 , the infantry began to move to France while the mounted infantry units remained in the Middle East to fight the Turks . Australian troops of the ANZAC Mounted Division and the Australian Mounted Division saw action in all the major battles of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign , playing a pivotal role in fighting the Turkish troops that were threatening British control of Egypt . The Australians first saw combat during the Senussi uprising in the Libyan Desert and the Nile Valley , during which the combined British forces successfully put down the primitive pro @-@ Turkish Islamic sect with heavy casualties . The ANZAC Mounted Division subsequently saw considerable action in the Battle of Romani between 3 and 5 August 1916 against the Turks who were eventually pushed back . Following this victory the British forces went on the offensive in the Sinai , although the pace of the advance was governed by the speed by which the railway and water pipeline could be constructed from the Suez Canal . Rafa was captured on 9 January 1917 , while the last of the small Turkish garrisons in the Sinai were eliminated in February . 
