Formed in Egypt in March 1916, the battalion subsequently served on the Western Front in France and Belgium, after being transferred to the European battlefields shortly after its establishment.

[1][2] The battalion was formed in the aftermath of the failed Gallipoli campaign when the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) was expanded as part of plans to transfer it from the Middle East to Europe for service in the trenches along the Western Front.

[3] Trained as infantrymen, the pioneers were tasked with light combat engineer functions in the field, with a large number of personnel possessing trades from civilian life.

[5] After a short period of training at Serapeum, in Egypt, in late March 1916 the 1st Pioneer Battalion embarked on a troopship from the port of Alexandria, bound for Marseilles.

From there, the 1st Pioneers moved to Armentieres where they established a camp, in an area which was dubbed a "nursery" sector by the Allies, where newly arrived units could gain their first experience of fighting on the Western Front.

[6] At Fleurbaix, the 1st Pioneers received new equipment and in late May were tasked with assisting the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company in digging a mine towards German lines around the Cordonnerie Salient, where they were positioned opposite the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division.

One member of the battalion, Private William Cox, was subsequently nominated for a posthumous Victoria Cross for his actions during the raid, refusing to leave his pumping station despite the danger and despite already having been wounded.

[11] Later, around Ypres in October, the battalion worked to clear the Ypres–Zonnebeke road, which had virtually disappeared under a layer of thick mud and debris due to a prolonged artillery bombardment.

[16] After the defeat of the German offensive, a lull period followed during which the Allied armies sought to regain the initiative through a series of small scale actions dubbed peaceful penetrations, which were carried out throughout June and July 1918.