 The weaponry and equipment of the Australian Army had mostly been standardised on that used by the British Army prior to the outbreak of World War I. During the war the equipment used changed as tactics evolved , and generally followed British developments . The standard issued rifle was the .303 @-@ inch Short Magazine Lee – Enfield Mark III ( SMLE ) . Infantrymen used 1908 @-@ pattern webbing , while light horsemen used leather bandoliers and load carriage equipment . A large pack was issued as part of marching order . In 1915 infantrymen were issued with the SMLE and long sword bayonet , while periscope rifles were also used . From 1916 they also used manufactured hand grenades and <unk> rifle grenades , both of which had been in short supply at Gallipoli ( necessitating the use of improvised " jam @-@ tin " grenades ) . A grenade discharge cup was issued for fitting to the muzzle of a rifle for the projection of the Mills bomb from 1917 . Machine @-@ guns initially included a small number of Maxim or Vickers medium machine @-@ guns , but subsequently also included the Lewis light machine @-@ gun , the latter two of which were issued in greater numbers as the war continued so as to increase the firepower available to the infantry in response to the tactical problems of trench warfare . Light horse units underwent a similar process , although were issued Hotchkiss guns to replace their Lewis guns in early 1917 . 
