"Where do the Gurkhas wear their kukri in operations?" Topic

Odd question i know but i am planning on converting some modern brits to gurkhas by adding the kukri from gripping beast. Where should i place it among their kit? Is it an individual thing?

There are a lot of photos of them and it always in the same place. On a belt at the small of their backs.

Thanks for that but i would have thought it wouldnt be a good spot when carry a pack and chest rigs on patrol. I know cermonially they wear it there but i was wondering if it changes for operations, the bottom pretty much answers my question….its position makes sense…thank yoiu again

They wear it inside the chests of their enemies…

Nice one :)

My late Father in Law brought me back a military (functional) kukri from his trip to Napal.

Looks like the one in the second photo.

Impressive blade weapon.

Bladed weapons are an anachronism on a modern battlefield….

… right up to the point that someone cuts your liver out with one.

Chalfant

Chalfant: very good point and you might like to ask all the US troops why they all seem to be buying themselves tomahawks to use in the warzones? Sometimes it comes down to having a weapon that can gut the other guy.

I think at one point the Army or Marines were issuing Tomahawks for Iraq … A good close combat weapon to fallback on in house clearing. Not to mention the psyops involved. May slow some up knowing they are going to get tomahawked to death on their way up to Allah or whoever … I normally just carried a USAF Survival Knife or the new bayonet with the wire cutter …

Tomahawks or other hatchets are more useful than most large blades. Splits firewood more easily, trims branches, etc. In a pinch you can throw them, too.

Lewis and Clark didn't carry a big honking Bowie knife, they carried a small kitchen knife (filet/boning knife with a thin, flexible blade) and a hatchet!

They probably bought Tomahawks because the cool SF guys in CODMW and MoH had them. Unless you are trained in their use they do more harm than good, as you must take a constantly aggressive stance, which opens you up to counter-attacks.

Then again the Argentinians supposedly abandoned West Falkland when they heard the Ghurkhas were coming, but they had trained with the kukri and had a well known reputation of using it effectively.

Old, old, old joke about the Gurkhas during WW2:
Gurkha and Afrika Korps trooper meet in melee in the swirl of battle. The trooper lunges at the Gurkha with his bayonet and nicks him in the arm.
the Gurkha slashes at the German. "Hah, you missed!" laughs the German.
"Nod your head," suggests the Gurhka.
Plop.

Ayo gurkhali!

link

It don't get more badass than this now, do it?

I've heard a lot of Gurkha stories over the years.

The best I heard was when they were in Tobruk in North Africa defending against the Germans.

Aussie troops were in foxholes at night and one Aussie reported hearing a whispered voice saying "Nice Tommy, nice Tommy" as he was peering out over the foxhole. Next day his mate explained that it was a Gurkha checking the shape of his helmet in the dark – if it was the wrong shape he'd have had his throat slit.

Glad they're on our side.

My great-grandfather was most alarmed while at the Somme to see a Gurkha drop into the trench next to him with an extra head…

Was it the Moroccan troops who would behead two sleeping German soldiers, but leave the one in the middle unharmed to wake up, flanked by decapitated corpse's?

"Bladed weapons are an anachronism on a modern battlefield…."

I said this very thing years ago, with the fatuous confidence that only a clueless second lieutenant can muster. My platoon sergeant then showed me his scars from hand to hand combat with a Viet Cong with a bayonet.

YouTube link

Another Gurhka WW2 story:
Commonwealth units held down by suppressive fire from Axis machinegun nest that has five soldiers in it.
A Gurkha charges the nest when the MG team pauses to reload: shoots an enemy, then his rifle jams. Kills a second with his kukri, but loses the kukri on the third because it is stuck in the skull. Gurkha pulls out his entrenching tool and kills the fourth in the gun pit. The fifth enemy soldier bolts and the Gurkha was last seen chasing him down the road wielding the shovel.

Unrelated side note: when my wife and I took a cruise in 2005 on the Norwegian Dawn to the western Caribbean, the ship's security were Gurkhas. I pity the fool who would try something nasty with them running the game!

On the subject of carrying:if you train with your weapon regularly, that weapon needs to be carried in its usual place. There are probably a lot more convenient ways of carrying on modern webbing, but if you have practised drawing the knife from the small of the back, that is where it needs to be.

Gurkas on ships: I live in Nynäshamn, south of Stockholm. Lots of cruise ships drop passengers off for day trips. Last year I saw two guys with crossed kukri shoulderpads on their uniforms at the local supermarket. They were not carrying kukris as you cannot carry a blade in public here. A good thing. I would not like to see the local police trying to enforce that particular law on those particular guys.

I was in the Royal Scots and KOSB in the early '90's.
We were told about bayonets when introduced to them. Their function was to bring a psychological change in the soldier.
On the order "fix bayonets" a little light went on in the soldiers brain, that said "this is going real". (Like we'd missed all the noise and shooting prior to that)
Real pain in the arse but a big part of British army philosophy was Close with and Kill the enemy. ("Gag 'em, Bag 'em, Shag 'em, steal their fags.")

My Kukri I got in New Delhi from the Army suppliers in Connaught Place. Made of Buffalo Horn, $13. USD Still not sure why I only bought one.
Having it on your chest rigging would be a really bad idea. In a CQB when you take action they would cause one hell of a big long bruise(one of our fellows in Recce plt had a short machete taped to the shoulder-strap of his belt order webbing. But he was a corporal, and a nut-job. Also, never saw him ever get dirty….hmmm).

Having the kukri at the middle of the belt is a good spot. (I had an extra pouch there with all sorts of kit, food, housewife I couldn't fit into my respirator bag.)

Story: We were on field exercise in Otterburn. The Ghurkhas were somewhere on base also. We were harboured up but before turning in we told Dougie to make sure his laces were tied in the correct way. "Why?" "Cause the Ghurkhas are about and they reach inside your bag while your asleep to check. If they're not tied properly, they cut them. (Dougie WAS a bit taller that the length of a Ghurkhas arm but didn't point the weak point in our story out.)
Seems like with their rep you can make up stuff to scare each other, yet most of it would seem creditable.

A Gurkha Sgt once RAN down a Snowdonia mountain with me tied to his back (as the only officer on the course, I was dicked to be the exercise casualty). I spent most of that time screaming and swearing while he just laughed… Bloody fit bloke! :)