During World War I, India played a crucial role in the British war effort, sending more than 290,000 soldiers and officers to fight on various international fronts. A significant number were deployed to East Africa, where Indian forces found themselves facing the German army, the Schutztruppe, led by the skilled General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Lettow-Vorbeck managed to hold off the British with guerrilla tactics, forcing them to call for reinforcements from India.

Indian troops encountered numerous challenges, including the disastrous landing at Tanga (Tanzania) in 1914, where they suffered heavy losses after being repelled by German colonial forces. Nonetheless, their presence bolstered the African front, enabling the British Empire to maintain control over the region. By the end of the conflict, nearly 50,000 Indian soldiers had crossed the ocean to fight in Africa, with about 5,000 killed or injured.

Aware of the British numerical advantage, Lettow-Vorbeck avoided direct confrontation, keeping his troops in constant motion across dense forests and vast African plains, using the landscape to his advantage. The jungle provided natural cover, making it difficult for the British to locate and engage the German forces.

Conditions were extremely harsh for both sides: oppressive heat, torrential rains, wild animals, and the constant threat of diseases like malaria made every advance exhausting and dangerous. Supply lines were often inadequate, leaving many soldiers, both German and British, suffering from a lack of food and medicine. It was not until 1917, after nearly three years of fighting, that most strategic areas were captured by the British, though Lettow-Vorbeck continued his resistance until the war's end.