Indian Expeditionary Force "B" sails for Africa

On 16 October 1914 the transports carrying Indian Expeditionary Force “B” sailed from Bombay. Some 8,000 soldiers under Major General Arthur Aitken, together with several thousand porters and followers, were bound for East Africa. Two days later they were joined at sea by ships from Karachi. The convoy was escorted by the old British battleship Goliath.

The objective: the whole colony

Unlike Force “C”, sent earlier, which since September had been defending British East Africa, Force “B” was to attack. Aitken’s orders stated plainly that the aim of the expedition was to bring the whole of German East Africa under British control. The first step was to be the capture of the port of Tanga, the terminus of the German railway running towards Kilimanjaro. From there the British intended to strike into the interior of the colony, and later to take the capital, Dar es Salaam, as well.

Troops of uneven quality

The force consisted of two brigades. The 27th (Bangalore) Brigade comprised the British 2nd Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, and battalions of the Indian Army. General Michael Tighe’s Imperial Service Brigade was made up mainly of units raised by the Indian princely states, among them Kashmir and Gwalior. The quality of these troops varied greatly. Some battalions were regarded as among the worst trained in the whole Indian Army, and some had received modern Lee-Enfield rifles only before departure and had not had time to get used to them. The force’s intelligence officer, Captain Richard Meinertzhagen, wrote that he shuddered to think what would happen when the troops met serious opposition.

Aitken himself was confident. He believed that trained Indian troops would quickly dispose of the German colonial forces made up of African soldiers, the askaris. He underestimated his opponent, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck.

Two weeks in the tropics

The voyage across the Indian Ocean lasted about two weeks and was a severe ordeal for the soldiers. On the overcrowded ships, in the tropical heat, most of them suffered from seasickness. Food also caused problems, because rations could not always be reconciled with the religious requirements of the different groups of soldiers. One officer called the voyage hell on crowded ships in the tropical heat.

At the end of October the convoy lay off Mombasa. Aitken did not allow the soldiers to go ashore to recover from the voyage and decided to sail straight on to Tanga. At the beginning of November Force “B” attacked the town. The Battle of Tanga, fought on 2–5 November, ended in one of the most humiliating British defeats of the entire war.