A German Schutztruppe askari poses for the camera with the German Imperial flag. German East Africa, 1906.
Although all the contenders fielded their own ‘askari’ troops during the African campaigns of 1914-18, it was the German native soldiers that became famous due no doubt to the impressive campaign conducted by German General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck in East Africa.
Starting the war with no more than 260 German Officers and NCOs and 2,472 askari, von Lettow never had at his disposal more than 3,000 Germans and 12,000 Africans (not counting native porters). Nevertheless, for four years his forces held in check 300,000 British Empire, Belgian and Portuguese troops.
When he finally agreed to a ceasefire, von Lettow still had 1,500 men under arms, most of them askari.
The following story, the veracity of which I was unable to confirm, has been published several times over the years. The earliest one I could track down was in Charles Miller’s “Battle for the Bundu: The First World War in German East Africa.” from 1974. Published again for example in Men-at-arms 490 (2013), “Imperial German Colonial and Overseas Troops”:
“In 1964, the year of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck’s death, the West German parliament voted to deliver back pay to all surviving askaris, and a temporary cashier’s office was set up at Mwanza on Lake Victoria. Of the 350 aged veterans who gathered, only a handful could produce the certificates that von Lettow-Vorbeck had given them in 1918, though others presented pieces of their old uniforms as proof of service.
The German banker who had brought the money came up with an idea: as each claimant stepped forward, he was handed a broom and ordered in German to perform the manual of arms. Not one man failed the test.”
Original: Bundesarchiv (Bild 105-DOA6369)
Note: Although this particular soldier’s leggings seem to be white, the pre-war leggings colour should, in principle, be dark blue or grey. I used the later for demonstration purposes only.