I. Schutztruppe
The Schutztruppe of German East Africa were originally formed from the Wissmantruppe in 1891. By 1914 they were a well disciplined force undergoing re-training by their new commander Lt. Col. Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. They consisted of 14 Field Companies ("Feldkompagnie") each of about 180 askaris (which could be raised up to 220 in wartime), and a separate signals detachment all with German Officers and NCOs. Their total pre-war strength was about 2472 askaris and 120 Germans.

II. Police
The German East African Police force (Polizeitruppe) consisted of about 2,000 askaris and native NCOs with 65 German officers and NCOs as well as further native police auxiliaries. They were incorporated into the Schutztruppe (against the wishes of the Governor of the colony, Dr Schnee, who wished to keep them as a separate force in case of local uprisings). As a police force its training and equipment was not quite up to the standards of the regular Schutztruppe.

III. Navy
There was no large permanent naval force in German East Africa at the outbreak of war although the pocket cruiser SMS Königsberg was in the area. After sinking several entente vessels in the area it was trapped and sunk in the Rufiji Delta in July 1915. The crew and large guns then joined the Schutztruppe forces on land. The crews of other smaller German vessels that found themselves stranded there, such as the survey ship SMS Möwe and the German/Danish re-supply ships that evaded the entente blockade also added to the naval personnel incorporated in the the Schutztruppe.

IV. Reservists
The Schutztruppe commander von Lettow-Vorbeck called up all local reservists (many of whom were at least partially trained or members of Shooting Clubs) to be formed into Shooting Companies ("Schützenkompagnie"), with regular Schutztruppe officers and NCOs . Many Germans and Afrikaners in the colony also volunteered, among them the Saxon General Wahle (who happened to be on holiday there and commanded the Western front in East Africa against the Belgians), Piet Njeuwenhuizen (von Lettow-Vorbeck's Boer advisor) and the pilot Bruno Brüchner with his single Doppelpflalz aeroplane (he was wounded and his plane shot down by British gunboats early in the war). The call up was soon extended to include almost all Germans (and the few Austro-Hungarians) in the colony and by early 1915 nine Schützenkompagnie were in operation. Some as garrison units but others as experienced front line fighters.

V. Native Irregulars
The Germans were keen to employ native irregulars (known as Ruga-Ruga) in their forces as guides and light escorting infantry. Boers, such as von Lettow-Vorbeck's advisor, Piet Njeuwenhuizen, were also employed, their advice on guerrilla tactics no doubt proving very useful.
The Schutztruppe of German East Africa also relied heavily on large numbers of native porters for transportation, hauling immense loads such as the guns of the SMS Königsberg vast distances over difficult terrain. Often their families and cattle travelled with them behind the Schutztruppe columns.

The First World War in German East Africa
Lt Col. Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, a veteran of the Boxer and Herero Rebellions, was appointed commander of the Schutztruppe for German East Africa in February 1914. Unlike the other colonies whose Schutztruppe were solely focussed on defence against internal rebellion, von Lettow-Vorbeck started preparing and training East Africa's Schutztruppe for the possibility of a war with other European powers' colonies. When that eventuality happened plans were already in place. Reservists were called up, the colony was put on alert and raids were made into enemy territory in British East Africa, the Belgian Congo and mistakenly into Portuguese East Africa (Portugal did not join the allies until 1916 and so at this stage was neutral). All this was protested against by the German East African governor, Dr Schnee who favoured a neutral response to Entente aggression. In November 1914 a British Indian army attempted a landing at the port of Tanga on the East African coast. Expecting no resistance, they blundered into von Lettow-Vorbeck's newly trained askaris and Schützenkompagnien and suffered a terrible loss forcing their complete withdrawal. This and costly victories for the Germans at Longido Hill and Jasin held the borders of German East Africa for the first two years of the war. During that time von Lettow-Vorbeck recruited and prepared as large a force as possible peaking at about 11,367 askaris, 2,700 Germans and 2,500 native auxiliary troops with many more native porters by late 1915. But by 1916 numerical superiority from the forces of South Africa, Britain, Belgium and now Portugal forced von Lettow-Vorbeck onto the retreat. After a series of retreats and evasive manoeuvres, in 1917 he slimmed his troops down to the fittest 3,000 or so (mostly the ones who had not succumbed to malaria) and set off to invade Portuguese East Africa rather than be trapped on German territory. He again evaded large numbers of enemy forces, turned back and invaded British Rhodesia. It was here that he heard news on the 13th November 1918 of the German unconditional surrender of 11th November. Shortly afterwards he lead his band of 1,168 askaris and 155 Germans to lay down their weapons to the British at Abercorn.
 

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