During the First World War, on 31 October 1914 at Hollebeke, Belgium, while serving in the British Indian Army, he performed an act of bravery for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

[3] Born on 20 October 1888 in the village of Dab in Chakwal District of the Punjab Province, British India (now Pakistan) in a Punjabi Muslim Rajput family of Minhas clan, Khudadad Khan was a Sepoy in the 129th Duke of Connaught's Own Baluchis, British Indian Army (now 11th Battalion The Baloch Regiment of Pakistan Army).

The battalion formed part of the Indian Corps, which was sent to France and Flanders in 1914 to reinforce the British forces fighting on the Western Front during the First World War.

In October 1914, when the Germans launched the First Battle of Ypres, the newly arrived 129th Baluchis were rushed to the frontline to support the hard-pressed British troops.

Sepoy Khudadad Khan's machine-gun team, along with one other, kept their guns in action throughout the day, preventing the Germans from making the final breakthrough.