ABSTRACT
The Great War was unprecedented for many reasons, but in the field of biomedical history and despite the use of new and devastating technologies of war, soldiers were far more likely to die of disease than on the battlefield. The Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, appointed a committee to investigate rumors relating to the Indian Army's activities on the North-Western Frontier, notably the suppression of a serious cholera outbreak caused by defective arrangements for water supply that killed nearly 566 Indians. The birth of the British Empire's relationship with cholera coincided with the beginning of Britain's imperial relationship with India. The Indian Army played a critical role in facilitating research into cholera's pathology, and served as an essential site for research into treatment and prevention. The basis of any good military campaign is the good health of its soldiers: the Indian government failed to adequately protect and support their troops in Mesopotamia.
