Philippines, liberated Khukuri

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vcbvcbvcb

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A client of mine sent me a picture of a knife that's in her husbands family. Family legend indicates that it was given to the husband's grandfather by the grandfather's uncle who fought in the Philippines during WW2. The uncle liberated from a Japanese officer. Much to my surprise, the picture shows a Khukuri. I'd like to get some opinions on the knife and ideas about how it ended up with a Japanese officer. I'm tried but failed to post a picture. Any suggestions on how to post the pic?
 
vcbvcbvcb said:
A client of mine sent me a picture of a knife that's in her husbands family. Family legend indicates that it was given to the husband's grandfather by the grandfather's uncle who fought in the Philippines during WW2. The uncle liberated from a Japanese officer. Much to my surprise, the picture shows a Khukuri. I'd like to get some opinions on the knife and ideas about how it ended up with a Japanese officer. I'm tried but failed to post a picture. Any suggestions on how to post the pic?
Click to expand...

Go to photobucket, upload it there and post an image link here.
 
upload
 
Thanks for the offer Spiral. I'm kind of stubborn and wanted to figure it out for future posts, however I didn't. I was just about to accept your kind offer when the pic appeared.
 
Perhaps taken when the Japanese conquered Singapore or battles on the Chinese Indian border?

I'm not familiar with the orders of battle for WW2
 
2/2 Ghurkas were in Singapore and the survivors were surrendered when Percival surrendered his command in February, 1942. Not surprisingly, they were treated brutally in captivity.
 
christcl said:
Perhaps taken when the Japanese conquered Singapore or battles on the Chinese Indian border?

I'm not familiar with the orders of battle for WW2
Click to expand...

That's an interesting thought. I suppose there may have been Japanese units, or at least individuals that fought Gurkhas and fought in the Philippines. Burma seems like a likely spot for a Japanese officer to have picked up a kukri. I think I heard that there were plenty of Gurkhas in Burma.
 
This makes me wonder, what were the specs of a fairly typical kukri used in WWII? I know that there were several contracted makers, as well as lots of personal purchases, but I'm wondering about a fairly typical contract kukri.
 
I had one by that same manufacturer for a little while-Mine was Indian made cast steel, and I want to say those were a private purchase, though I could be wrong.
 
Scara, funny you should mention Burma. My client initially said she thought she had heard the name "Bora" in the 1st telling of the story, but I couldn't find any Gurkha activity there. She went home and talked to her husband and he thought it was the Philippines. Burma and Bora could be mistaken for one another. I'll ask her to inquire more within the family.
 
vcbvcbvcb said:
Scara, funny you should mention Burma. My client initially said she thought she had heard the name "Bora" in the 1st telling of the story, but I couldn't find any Gurkha activity there. She went home and talked to her husband and he thought it was the Philippines. Burma and Bora could be mistaken for one another. I'll ask her to inquire more within the family.
Click to expand...

Burma would make a lot of sense since you had the British, Gurkhas, and Americans fighting against the Japanese. However the Philippines could have happened too. It'll be interesting to find out the full story.
 
Scara said:
This makes me wonder, what were the specs of a fairly typical kukri used in WWII? I know that there were several contracted makers, as well as lots of personal purchases, but I'm wondering about a fairly typical contract kukri.
Click to expand...

These two seem to have been fairly typical as far as specs are concerned, and for the pinned-type handle.

View attachment 563191 View attachment 563192

The first one is 17" OAL and 23oz.

The second one is 18" OAL and 24oz. The second blade is stamped QEYOOM BROS, which I believe was a major supplier of military khukuris. The seller told me the following, and I have no reason to disbelieve him: “I received this from the original WWII veteran who personally brought this knife back after the war.”

Both of these examples are very well made and feel great in the hand.
 
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