 In April 1918 the militia artillery was again mobilised , although this time only for a month , when news that the German commerce raiders Wolf and Seeadler had entered Australian waters the previous year . In June 1918 the number of troops actively employed on home service was 9 @,@ 215 , of which 2 @,@ 476 were regulars . At this time the Navy took over the task of providing guards for ships in harbour and communications facilities , thus allowing for many of the militia troops to be released for further training , and as such it was decided to increase the period of camp training for the militia from eight days to 24 . 
