A group of 10th Gurkha rifles Officers from WW1 & WW2

S

spiraltwista

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Nov 29, 2002
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Here a group of 10th Gurkha rifles Officers kukris from my collection, I thought I would share with you chaps. From both first & second world wars.







This one {below.} belonged to Lt. Bazett of 10th Gurkha rifles who also appears to have spent a year on loan to the Burma Military police & is recorded as Quartermaster at Myamo in Burma in 1919 again with the 10GR..After ww2 he moved to Canada. He was reenlisted in WW2 with the rank of Major & employed in "Special Services" apparently as a senior training officer.{He must have learnt a lot in Burma!} I like to think of it as a true military sirupate, with its slender 15 1/4 inch blade.



Heres a picture of him wearing it. { tall chap,Second from right about c.1917/18} although with the sam browne frog rather than the issue field frog it came with from his great Grandson, after passing through the safe hands of JP.


bazettofficerswithSamBrownerig.jpg




Next we have the big one! Clearly made in the same workshop as Lt.Bazetts kukri, but much more in style, its a real heavy weight hitter, clearly made for a large powerfull man. Blade only 14 1/2 inches long but weights in at just over a kilo so a match in weight & length to some of the Nepali army long leaf kukri. {Although balance wise the heavy silver buttcap does help offset the otherwise very heavy blade.} Its heavier than I normally in mylike but It would cut a mans head in half lengthways down to his chest, Im sure ! certainly fantastic intimidation factor as well particularly if the Officer had a large .455 webley in his left hand at the same time!

It wears a very rare sam browne Officers belt frog & carrys identical buttcap & silver fittings as Lt. Bazzets.



And last but by no means least we have an early WW2 era 10th Gurkha riflles Officers dia chirra kukri, {Sadley when I bought it about 9 or 10 years ago I didn't record the past owners name when I bought it of his son in Law. my error...} The silver had very carefully been painted black {not patina, but actual paint!} So presumably had seen front line service.



A very similar kukri is held at the Gurkha museam Winchester, {photo below.} although that one carrys a coveted Sam Browne frog.

Spiral

SamBrownerig1919VeryuniqueveryrareS.jpg
 
Amazing good stuff. I love this sort of post. The cho's on a couple of those are amazing, you have to wonder how they did that.

Very good stuff, thanks for sharing with us.
 
If a Gurkha was issued arms in WWI for example was it typical for them to keep the same weapon as he reinlisted to WW2 or moved to new co. or battalion or were they reissued new weapons? Lt. Bazett obviously kept his but was this standard practice? I notice the officers Khuks are full tang and even Chiruwa. The Gurkha Army Khuks from the 2003 IMA stash are mostly partial tang but made about the same time at least during Ranas rein? These are constructed more like the British made or India samples i have seen but in the patterns of the Nepali made MKI and MKII (except lower one) and the few rare sirupates.
 
ndoghouse said:
If a Gurkha was issued arms in WWI for example was it typical for them to keep the same weapon as he reinlisted to WW2 or moved to new co. or battalion or were they reissued new weapons? Lt. Bazett obviously kept his but was this standard practice? I notice the officers Khuks are full tang and even Chiruwa. The Gurkha Army Khuks from the 2003 IMA stash are mostly partial tang but made about the same time at least during Ranas rein? These are constructed more like the British made or India samples i have seen but in the patterns of the Nepali made MKI and MKII (except lower one) and the few rare sirupates.
Click to expand...

Interesting question! A British army Gurkha usualy kept his issue kukri no matter which unit he went to, indeed he was usually allowed to leave the army with it. If he reinlisted I expect he would be issued a new kukri, but if he wanted to bring his old favourite along for the ride it wouldn't have been seen as a problem, by most Gurkha Officers.

I would say the WW2 10th Gurka Officers kukri were probably made by Garhwalli smiths at Dehradun, The 2 WW1 kuks are rather unusual & may have been made By Nepelese or Indian kami at regimental HQ in Myamo in Burma, {Then still part of India.} Or perhaps privately contracted from India,But using particular design features requested by the the 10GR Officers.I suspect manufacture at Myamo though, as kukri are known to have been made there in WW1, when they objected to being overcharged for poor quality kukris by some of there suppliers.

To me they don't realy resemble any of the standard issue kukri of either the Nepelese of British armys. But they are what they are.

spiral
 
spiraltwista said:
To me they don't realy resemble any of the standard issue kukri of either the Nepelese of British armys. But they are what they are.

spiral
Click to expand...
Further inspection I see your point. The top one has shape of Gurkha Army Khuk But is more "Siru" in width and the second has pronounced "knee" at the spine but has the edge contours of GAK? The third one has the early "pattern shape"? of the GAK's but is smaller. Please pardon my ignorance and soon as I think i got something figured out im sure something else will come along to remind me otherwise. Those are some really nice pieces you have there and knowing the history of them is even more fascinating. I'm asking these questions because I have one of those GAK's from the 2003 arsenal and has had the script filed off and new script added over the old. Was wondering why? Maybe the owner gave the ultimate price? Do your samples have the Devanagari script on the spine? I bet they feel alive just holding them! Love that Cho! Thanks for posting and answering.
 
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No worrys, I an still learning all the time myself, every kukri I handle I try to learn something from.

The Nepelese army would do things differently from the British on occasion, given the 14,000 kukris plus that were found in the old palace etc. I guess not all there soldiers, {many of whom were conscripts.} got to keep there kukris. {Although lots of these turn up out in the villages as people know that after a 100 or whatever years they are reliable blades, even if they sometimes need re handling.}

The Gurkhas in the British army were volunteers.

Ive had examples from the cache & identical marked pieces I picked up in Nepal in 2005, The British army pieces are not marked in Devangari,

Is the entire inscription on yours changed, or just the regiment? Have you had it translated? Good clear photos would help.

I have 3 old Nepal army pieces but only 1 ever wore an inscription & that been removed.

spiral
 
Thanks for sharing, Spiral.
In the first pic, the middle one has a nice sized Karda, if I am seeing this correctly. A very useful size knife.
I like the Sam Brown style attachment also.

:)
Mark
 
ndoghouse Read you longleaf thread 7 agree it looks like a battalion mark removed.

All I can add is as I said above.

The Nepelese army would do things differently from the British on occasion, given the 14,000 kukris plus that were found in the old palace etc. I guess not all there soldiers, {many of whom were conscripts.} got to keep there kukris. {Although lots of these turn up out in the villages as people know that after a 100 or whatever years they are reliable blades, even if they sometimes need re handling.}

Greenwoods, yes its a good karda , grips bout 3 I/2 inch, with a wide butt flair, blades about 3 but quite solid.

spiral
 
I doubt if quite that much, but I am glade they have all came to live with me for a while.

I think they all like being together as well.

Spiral
 
Those knives are a century old and still look battle ready. You have something truly special there Spiral. For the sake of each one of us who loves blades, please never stop collecting (and posting). Fantastic stuff!
 
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