 They were not the first Australians to serve on the Western Front . An Australian Voluntary Hospital had been formed in England in August 1914 from Australian expatriates . All medical practitioners in the unit were Australians and although women were not allowed to serve as doctors , Australian nurses were accepted . The unit left for France in August 1914 and from October was based at Wimereux , where the 2nd General Hospital joined it in June 1916 . In July 1916 , the Australian Voluntary Hospital was absorbed into the British Army . Another group of Australians had also arrived in France before I Anzac Corps . In June 1915 , the 1st Siege Artillery Brigade was formed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Walter Adams Coxen , the Australian Army 's Director of Artillery , for service on the Western Front . About half the men in the unit were permanent gunners of the Garrison Artillery . The brigade departed Melbourne for England on 17 July 1915 and landed in France on 27 February 1916 . Its 54th Siege Battery was equipped with 8 inch howitzers and its 55th Siege Battery with 9 @.@ 2 inch howitzers . 
