Arthur Magill was a 21 year old Bank Clerk, probably living in Ballarat, Victoria, when he enlisted for the First World War on 26 July, 1915. His next of kin was given as his father, Alexander Magill of Wendouree Parade, Ballarat. He may have enlisted in at the Drill Hall in East Melbourne or at the Melbourne Town Hall. His lack of familiarity with East Melbourne streets shows up in his given address, when he cites 'Gibbs St.' instead of Gipps St. He was a short man, only 5'2", in height, single and Roman Catholic by religion. He would have recieved training at Marybinong, in order to be a gunner, following military training at Albert Park.It consisted of three artillery batteries, 10, 11 and 12. Arthur Magill was in Battery 12.
They embarked from Australia on 15 November 1915. By then the Gallipoli Campaign was lost, with the Australian troops withdrawing in December that year. Magill and his fellow soldiers arrived in Egypt on 15 December, 1915, and proceeded to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, part of the British Army that commanded all allied forces at Gallipoli and Salonika. This included the initial naval operation to open the Dardanelles to allied shippingin March 1915. The acronym was first used to refer to the forces at Gallipoli, the only active theatre of war in the region, but when the Salonika front opened in Octpber 1915, the forces at Gallipoli became the Dardanelles Army, while those at Salonika became the Salonika Army. By March, 1916, the MEF became the Sinai Front, defending the Suez Canal from Turkish attacks, with separate headquarters, and was called th Egyptian Expeditionary Force.
Arthur Magill and the 4th F.A.B. joined the M.E.F. in Egypt on 15 December and served there for three months, probably for further training, before being sent from Alexandia to France, disembarking at Marseilles on 19 March, 1916. Here they joined the 2nd Division and the older AIF battalions and proceeded to Le Havre by train, an 800 kilomtere journey. Here they acquired their 18-pounder guns and theur vehicles and moved to the front at Armentieres, near the French-Belgian border. Armentieres was known as the 'nursery sector' for newly arrved troops, because the fightinh there was no so intense.
The 4th F.A.B.'s first major battle was at the battle of the Somme, designed to reieve the pressure on the allied troops at Verdun. The 4th was in battle at Sausage Hill, near Pozieres, facing a major offensive by the Germans. From here, they were moved into Flanders, where they fought at Ypres, then in November, 1916, were returned to Bapaume, 10 Kilometres north-east of Pozieres. By now it was winter had set in harsh and bitter and the Germans werre using gas attacks to demoralise the Allied troops. On 31 January, 1917, Arthur Magill was ill, sent first to a Casualty Clearing Stations, then via the 13 Field Ambulance to the 51st General Hospital for treatment. On 2 February, he was diagnosed with V.D., primary syphylis, identified by chancres or ulcers, on the penis. On 20 March. 1917, he was discharged form hospital at Etaples.
Finally out of hospital, Arthur Magill was taken on strength with the 2nd D.A.C. on 27 April, 1917, then transferred back to the 4th F.A.B. He was ill again on 16 November, 1917, and transferred back to England, arriving on 19 January, 1918. He was classified as unfit to rejoin the war effort, and returned to Australia on board the Kenilworth Castle, a passenger ship re-fitted as a hospital ship. On 14 September, he was discharged from further service.