Following this the brigade was transferred to the Western Front in France and Belgium where, between March 1916 and the armistice in November 1918, they took part in most of the major Allied operations.

Originally formed in 1903 as a Militia unit of the Commonwealth Military Forces, it was established in Victoria and consisted of four battalion-sized units—5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Australian Infantry Regiments.

[2] In 1912, the compulsory training scheme was introduced and at this time the brigade was reorganised as part of the 1st Military District, with constituent units were spread across various locations in Queensland including Toombul, Nundah and Brisbane.

[8][9][10][11] Early in May the battalions of the 2nd Brigade moved from the beachhead at Anzac Cove to the British and French lodgement at Cape Helles where on 8 May they were involved in the Second Battle of Krithia, carrying out the first brigade-level attack by Australian infantry against an entrenched enemy force[12] and during which they suffered losses equal to roughly a third of its strength in what was a largely unsuccessful attack.

Following this the brigade was involved in largely defensive duties until they were withdrawn as part of the general evacuation of Allied troops from the peninsula in December 1915.

Their first significant involvement in combat in Europe came in July 1916 during the Battle of Pozières and after this, over the course of the next two and a half years, they took part in most of the major Allied operations against the German Army.

[21] Following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 the Australian government decided to raise an all-volunteer force for overseas service.

[23] As a result, as the units of the newly raised 2nd AIF were sent overseas to North Africa, the Militia were called up progressively for three months continuous training in order to improve the overall readiness of Australia's defences.

[25] However, in early 1940, the Australian Army's brigade establishment was reduced from to three battalions in order to fall in line with standard British doctrine.

[26] Following the entry of Japan into the war in December 1941, and their subsequent advance through Malaya and New Guinea, units of the Militia were called upon to carry out garrison and defensive duties around Australia in response to the perceived threat of invasion.

[25] By late 1944, however, the threat of invasion no longer existed and the division along with many of its component units were disbanded in order to ease some of the labour shortages being experienced in the Australian economy.