 When originally formed in 1914 the AIF was commanded by Bridges , who also commanded the 1st Division . After Bridges ' death at Gallipoli in May 1915 , the Australian government appointed Major General James Gordon Legge , a Boer War veteran , to replace Bridges in command of both . However , British Lieutenant General Sir John Maxwell , the commander of British Troops in Egypt , objected to Legge bypassing him and communicating directly with Australia . The Australian government failed to support Legge , who thereafter deferred to Lieutenant General William Birdwood , the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps . When Legge was sent to Egypt to command the 2nd Division , Birdwood made representations to the Australian government that Legge could not act as commander of the AIF , and that the Australian government should transfer Bridges ' authority to him . This was done on a temporary basis on 18 September 1915 . Promoted to major general , Chauvel took over command of the 1st Division in November when Major General Harold Walker was wounded , becoming the first Australian @-@ born officer to command a division . When Birdwood became commander of the Dardanelles Army , command of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and the AIF passed to another British officer , Lieutenant General Alexander Godley , the commander of the NZEF , but Birdwood resumed command of the AIF when he assumed command of II ANZAC Corps upon its formation in Egypt in early 1916 . I ANZAC Corps and II ANZAC Corps swapped designations on 28 March 1916 . 
