Whistlinbill's Collection #6: Khukuri

[sirupate]

Gentlemen, thank you! You're giving me quite an education in kukris--it's great to have scholars like you leading the way! Gene, FWIW, somewhere in this lot there is a kukri made like the one you show, with no trident cutout. I got it from Windlass Steelcrafts in Dehra Dun, about 25 years ago. What Sudhir Windlass told me was that during World War II, the "trident" marking was left off, for ease in production. The Gurtkha troops didn't like that--they said the knife was not as effective without it, etc., etc. So the (then British) Government dropped that idea. Also, there was an attempt to make kukris in Sheffield. I had a couple from, best I recall, Joseph Rodgers. The British factory guys said the Gurkhas didn't want to use them because they hadn't been made with the proper religious rituals. When I asked Sudhir Windlass's dad about it (he had made kukris for the (British) Indian Army since 1943), he said the problem with the Sheffield made knives was the cost--the Sheffield knives cost much more than Indian or Nepali product. Thanks, Bill

Some thoughts I have had on the above quote;
I certainly know that some kukri were produced without the Gorakhnath kaudi, but were they issued to the Gurkhas?
Regarding Windlass I rather thought they were producing the Mk3, and the spec drawings for the Mk3 clearly show the kaudi;

One also wonders how many if any Mk3 were issued to the Gurkhas? as we know the 8th Gurkhas ended up making there own in WW2;
Huxford; “As Government kukri were unobtainable, the Centre (Regimental Centre at Quetta) developed its own kukri industry. A large number of kukri manufacturers and other skilled artisans were imported, and within a few months it was possible to equip all drafts with weapons of the finest design and make. Considering that only available material was scrap, such as springs from derelict motor cars and odds and ends of old metal parts, and that the workshops were covered huts with no facilities for manufacturer, these craftsmen put up a fine effort which astonished visitors.”
I also don't think religious rituals would have had anything to do with it, I have never seen a kami do any religious rituals before making a kukri, no matter whether the kami was Hindu, Buddhist, Christian etc
Also regarding the kukri made in Sheffield, I wonder if he is not referring to the post War Wilkinson Sword kukri, which as you can see from the Mk3 specs, is almost identical in profile.