Falkland-era Kukris

S

Scara

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Jun 21, 2014
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I know we have a few kukri historians around here. Could anyone fill me in as to what style of kukri was commonly carried by Gurkhas in and around the Falkland Islands War?
 
It would be the commonly seen MKV Kukri. Also known as the BAS (British Army Service)
 
Nermail Rai's blade was his own hand made khukuri from home. One of the Gurkha sites say most of the men are issued two khuks, but mainly use knives they or friends made back at home. The BAS is used for dress/parades.
 
The Gurkhas saw no combat in the Falklands, the Argentinian conscripts would surrender to any unit they could to be kept away from Gurkhas, as their officers had told them the were head hunting cannibals with big knives.

15 Gurkhas were injured by a random artillery shell on a camp, One Brit,Gurkha captain was shot through the head late at night leaving the officers mess tent.

It was put down as random round or sniper... just the one man shot in that camp.

A now ex SAS friend carried a mk.3 there....He was parachuted in as a spotter.

Spiral
 
spiraltwista said:
The Gurkhas saw no combat in the Falklands, the Argentinian conscripts would surrender to any unit they could to be kept away from Gurkhas, as their officers had told them the were head hunting cannibals with big knives.

15 Gurkhas were injured by a random artillery shell on a camp, One Brit,Gurkha captain was shot through the head late at night leaving the officers mess tent.

It was put down as random round or sniper... just the one man shot in that camp.

A now ex SAS friend carried a mk.3 there....He was parachuted in as a spotter.

Spiral
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Well, I had heard that that kind of thing happens a lot with units that are known for their use of the knife, but to hear real examples of it makes it more fun.
 
I know I've blatherd on about my grandfather fighting in the trenches of WWI alongside Gurkha soldiers. What would be the closest HI produces to what would have most likely have been carried in that era?
 
Bigbore577 said:
I know I've blatherd on about my grandfather fighting in the trenches of WWI alongside Gurkha soldiers. What would be the closest HI produces to what would have most likely have been carried in that era?
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What unit was he with? what year? Then I can give you details of the most likely shapes weights & measures of that time & place. {not an exact science but we can do ok...}


Then Yangdu or one of the regulars can lead you to the nearest item to that I expect?

spiral
 
spiraltwista said:
What unit was he with? what year? Then I can give you details of the most likely shapes weights & measures of that time & place. {not an exact science but we can do ok...}


Then Yangdu or one of the regulars can lead you to the nearest item to that I expect?

spiral
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U.S. 4th Army Infantry Division (Ivy Division). He was in from the trenches in France to the army of occupation 17'-21'. He fought at Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne and the Second Battle of Somme most notably.
 
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mmm Thanks, Sadly as so often occurs I think the family narrative has got a little mixed up along the line there.

All Gurkhas had left France for Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, Iraq etc long before 1917.

All the best,
Spiral
 
Well that sucks! LOL! Things do get messed up over time. He's been gone over 50 years and I was a little kid. I know he wasn't a liar. Perhaps he was conveying stories he'd heard from British soldiers and I mixed them up in my head. BTW, from what I can figure they would have been a MK1 which most closely resembles the M43 to me, at least amongst regularly cataloged items. I think a conversation with Auntie with Pala's assistance could straighten things out properly. Thanks much for your assistance.
 
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Bigbore577 said:
Well that sucks! LOL! Things do get messed up over time. He's been gone over 50 years and I was a little kid. I know he wasn't a liar. Perhaps he was conveying stories he'd heard from British soldiers and I mixed them up in my head. BTW, from what I can figure they would have been a MK1 which most closely resembles the M43 to me, at least amongst regularly cataloged items. I think a conversation with Auntie with Pala's assistance could straighten things out properly. Thanks much for your assistance.
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Thanks for not shooting the messenger!

I did this article which will give you details of many ww1 era kukri.

http://www.ikrhs.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1203

Hope it helps You & Yangdu find the right one for you...:thumbup:


Spiral
 
It's all good! My brother has his medals, Doughboy helmet and WWI era bugle he brought back. My uncle had his 1911 he smuggled back, he claimed it saved his life to many times he wouldn't leave it behind. Unfortunately, it got lost, stolen or sold somewhere long the line. He always spoke of the Ghurkas as third party. Ferocious little men that would sneak through the trenches under the cover of darkness terrifying the Germans with the carnage they caused with their khukris. I assumed I guess over the years it was while he was there as those things did occur. Over fifty years and from a child's mind things can get twisted. He was a tough old bird, three purple hearts, gassed twice and lived to tell about it. The gas damaged his lungs and they claim that's what allegedly led to his death.
 
Bigbore577 said:
It's all good! My brother has his medals, Doughboy helmet and WWI era bugle he brought back. My uncle had his 1911 he smuggled back, he claimed it saved his life to many times he wouldn't leave it behind. Unfortunately, it got lost, stolen or sold somewhere long the line. He always spoke of the Ghurkas as third party. Ferocious little men that would sneak through the trenches under the cover of darkness terrifying the Germans with the carnage they caused with their khukris. I assumed I guess over the years it was while he was there as those things did occur. Over fifty years and from a child's mind things can get twisted. He was a tough old bird, three purple hearts, gassed twice and lived to tell about it. The gas damaged his lungs and they claim that's what allegedly led to his death.
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What I could see happening is that he heard stories of the Gurkhas from British soldiers, and possibly saw British soldiers with kukris, and the two combined to make for vivid stories that he could tell. As for the gas, sounds like he probably was exposed to mustard gas. Nasty stuff in the extreme, and it can cause long-term lung damage that goes on for years. Nasty stuff. Even though tactically gas has turned out not to be very effective, I still don't mind that Law of War prohibits its use.
 
Yes it was in fact mustard gas. He suffered from it greatly but he managed to make it to the age of 66.
 
That's tough, one of my granddads was thier in 1914 and became a machine gunner from 1915 onwards.... He was only 18, Gassed twice too... used to get pneumonia every winter for ever after.... Died of it about 50 years later...

Another was caught at Gallipoli & was a prisoner of the Turks... Not much fun either Id guess. He wouldn't talk about it though.

spiral
 
Were there still Sikh troops in France in '17? There is a precedent for them to be having a khuk or two, assuming the leadership went along with it. Just a thought
 
J W Bensinger said:
Were there still Sikh troops in France in '17? There is a precedent for them to be having a khuk or two, assuming the leadership went along with it. Just a thought
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I agree, in fact id say most Indian army units had a kuk or two , or a dozen maybe, even if sometimes just in the camp box with an axe, shovel ,pickaxe & hammer.

But certainly many ncos & officers bought & wore personal kukris.

Ive not researched every Indian army regiment so in truth I don't know.... But I would guess non combatant units stayed there the longest.

Hers a link to the known 71, 527. Indian army soldiers who died in ww1... If you have time to scan through looking for French cemeteries & the date of death , then I'm sure you will find the full answer.

OF course a few isolated individuals died in hospitals months or years after their injurys, but aside from them the true answer will lie within that documentation...

linky...http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx?cpage=1

Hopefully the link holds the search results...{& not just from my cookies...} if not search ww1, Army, Indian forces etc.

Spiral
 
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