 When the 1st Division arrived , it was reunited with its mechanical transport . In September 1914 , the Army had decided to supply mechanical transport for the 1st Division and formed a company in New South Wales and one in Victoria . These were the first ever mechanical transport units in the Australian Army . Nearly 200 vehicles were purchased and the two units departed Melbourne for Egypt on 22 December 1914 . Unfortunately , vehicles over 5 long tons ( 5 @.@ 1 t ) were prohibited in Cairo as most bridges could not hold their weight , whereas they possessed vehicles weighing up to 7 long tons ( 7 @.@ 1 t ) . It was therefore arranged for them to continue to England where they arrived on 15 February 1915 . There they lived in tents on Salisbury Plain and hauled gravel for roads before being sent to France in July 1915 . 
