Soldiers of the King's African Rifles receiving instruction in the use of a machine gun, 1916

Photograph, World War One, East Africa (1914-1918), 1916.

During the East African Campaign the Germans recruited African troops skilled in the art of bush craft, which enabled them both to live off and move swiftly through the region's inhospitable terrain. These skills combined with extensive training in the use of European weapons enabled Germany's tiny East African colonial forces (known as Schtztruppen) to resist the superior Allied forces arrayed against them. It was the recognition of the abilities of native Africans and the need to mimic this specialised type of warfare on the part of British commanders that led to the wartime expansion of the King's African Rifles and their extensive employment in this campaign.

One of sixteen photographs associated with King's African Rifles.