Formed at the start of the war from volunteers, it was entirely white and drawn primarily from Boer settlers and members of the Legion of Frontiersmen.

The East African Mounted Rifles, around 400 strong, deployed to support the recapture of Kisii, Kenya, in September 1914.

Veterans' reunions were held post-war, and the East African Reconnaissance Squadron in the Second World War is regarded as a successor unit.

Lieutenant Colonel Launcelot Ward, recently retired and headed for England, was recalled to the colony to assume command of British East African forces.

He oversaw the creation of self-defence forces to supplement the relatively small British garrison, primarily consisting of elements of the King's African Rifles.

[2] The East African Mounted Rifles was envisaged as a regiment-sized mobile unit intended to strike against German forces threatening to invade from Tanganyika.

[3] A number of experienced men served in leadership roles, including as commanding officer, second-in-command, adjutant, regimental sergeant major and as quartermasters.

[3] The East African Mounted Rifles were first deployed in an attack on German forces that had occupied the Kenyan village of Kisii.

They reached Kisii on 12 September, by which time the King's African Rifles had already taken the village following the German retreat after an inconclusive engagement.

[14] On 3 November 1914, 360 men of the East African Mounted Rifles supported an attack by Indian troops on the Tanganyikan town of Longido, successfully capturing the settlement.

Treating the war "as if it were another safari", their use of civilian camp followers and practice of providing their own supplies led to notably lower rates of dysentery than other units.

[19] While their initial service on the frontier was valuable, it was decided that the unit was more useful as a source of leaders for the King's African Rifles.

[22] A dozen men of the East African Mounted Rifles served in the August 1916 advance on the German Tanganyika Railway.