January calendar

[John Powell]

and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2004 to all...

 

[ddean]

And thank you.

 

[Aardvark]

A nice old warrior. Thanks.

 

[John Powell]

This is a great old warrior that has great provenance. I bought it in an antique arms shop in London years ago and subsequently met a family of Gurkhas (3 generations of soldiers) and the grandfather was in the 1/7th GR during WW II. Although his memory was a bit hazy he thought he knew this kukri and said it belonged to Dalbahadur Limbu. He said this because he said his friend never laced his kukri properly. They fought throughout the CBI campaigns including the fierce fighting at Meiktila, Burma. It is the model that eventually was classified as the K45 by the British-Indian Army although it had been in use in late 1943.

 

[Thomas Linton]

So you could have "K45" khukuris dated in 1944, yes?

 

[Rod Allen]

43 & 44 me thinks

 

[DKP]

Thanks for letting us see this one. Hope you have a great 2004 John.

 

[mohd]

John

In that pict it looks about the size & weight of HI BAS. Am I correct? Is it Indian made?

 

[spiraltwista]

Interesting provenance JP! Very lucky! Unusual WW2 chape & front ringed handle as well! Nice photo too! Cheers!

Spiral

 

[John Powell]

Indian made, 1lb 7oz, 16 3/8". The unusual aspect are the marks: a G on one side of the ricasso with a 7 obverse. They will also be found marked with just a 44 or 45 or with K43, K44, K45. The scabbard marks vary. The chape and crude ring are standard for these models.

 

[spiraltwista]

Interesting JP There is no ring ingraved in front of the first rivet next to the blade on any of the 4 I have! Perhaps you thought I meant the raised ring in the centre of the grip?

The scabbards I normaly see {Indian 1945} & have, have the gently curving sides on the upturned v rather than pure v shaped chape as well!

Cheers,
Spiral

 

[John Powell]

Spiral, I did think you referred to the raised ring. The cut you see wasn't intentional, but some type wear mark. The chapes I have are all symetrical. Send pictures of your upturned military chapes...maybe you have something unique. The infamous copy/repro/fake of a WW I marked kukri has an upturned chape and they do appear on some authentic Indian and early Nepali scabbards.

Thanks for the compliment on the photo. Nothing fancy, just my little digital and natural light.

 

[Kismet]

Nothing fancy, just my little digital and natural light.

and great generosity of spirit in sharing. Thank you, Mr. Powell, for everything.

 

[John Powell]

Any of you who keep these calendars might want to reload the image. The first dates were off by about 4 years! I gotta stop smoking crack, sniffing glue, taking oxycontin and drinking scotch when I do these....