In August 1914 the First World War began. In December, the 1st Battalion was deployed to the Western Front in France as part of the Sirhind Indian Infantry Brigade, attached to 3rd (Lahore) Division. The 1st Battalion's first taste of trench warfare came when they were involved in the defence of Givenchy shortly after. After braving a winter in the trenches, on 10 March 1915 the 1st Battalion took part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle which lasted until 13 March. In April the Battalion took part in the Second Battle of Ypres, fighting in the subsidiary Battle of St. Julien which began on 24 April and concluded on 4 May. Later that month the Battalion took part in the Battle of Festubert and in September the Battle of Loos began, the last major engagement on the Western Front that the 1st Battalion took part in, before being withdrawn from the Western Front.