The first convoy departs Albany, Western Australia

Thirty-eight Australian and ten New Zealand troopships sailed with a security escort of four warships in the first convoy of troop transports to leave Australia. 

Volunteers had embarked at ports around the country before the troopships assembled at Albany, Western Australia. The vessels carried 30,000 troops, 12,500 horses and military and medical supplies. They also carried the first 25 nurses of the Australian Army Nursing Service to serve abroad in this war. 

The Ottoman Empire – often referred to as Türkiye, though the nation-state did not then exist – entered the conflict as the convoy left Australia for England. The ships were diverted to Egypt, and there troops camped at a major base at Mena, close to the Pyramids.