Mk11 Kukri

**HARRY THE MOLE** · 02-13-2016, 04:24 PM

I recently took possession of a rather dilapidated WD broad arrow stamped WW1 MK11 Kukri which was manufactured at the Cossipore arsenal in 1916. There are many fakes of WW1 Kukri's on the market, but this is the genuine article. After some TLC the blade was looking much better. The knife in the centre of the picture of the three together is a WW1 private purchase 'Ang khola,' and the lower knife is a circa 1930's/40's knife.

Cheers,
Steve.

**harryamb2** · 02-13-2016, 08:28 PM

nice one Harry.

**HARRY THE MOLE** · 02-14-2016, 12:03 AM

A few more pictures. This is how the knife looked before cleaning up the blade.

**Chopperman** · 02-14-2016, 12:57 AM

Very nice.

I've got a 1914 dated piece.

**Australia** · 02-14-2016, 01:51 AM

So many fakes out there it's nice to see a original . Very nice

**Adrian Stevenson** · 02-14-2016, 11:33 AM

Hi Steve, nice to see. I get offered a lot at work and they are almost all tourist items, even though many were picked up during the war by servicemen in India.

Cheers, Ade

**HARRY THE MOLE** · 02-14-2016, 12:30 PM

Hi Ade, and thanks for your comments. There are many un-marked Kukri's out there that are supposedly military issue - that includes the lower two in my picture! But the only way you can be reasonably sure is by having a crow's foot mark on the blade. The fake Mk11's have brass bolsters and end caps - some with brass bands around the wooden grip too. But brass wasn't used on the WW1 military examples - apart from the rivets through the grip. Another giveaway is the crude stamps on the blade, and they are invariably dated 1917. The Mk11 came out in 1915. The earlier Mk1 has a keeper nut set on the end of the tang and countersunk into the grip. The Mk11 has two rivets through the end-cap, and this type was in production up to the 1940's. The later post-WW1 Kukri blades gradually changed in shape, the droop in the blade becoming less curved and slightly more angular.

The Ang Khola knife in the centre of the three is a lovely weapon, the handle is shorter and chunkier than the Mk11. And although stained, the blade has no pitting at all. There is a well documented and researched Kukri - exactly the same as this example, which belonged to L/Cpl Geddes of the Royal West Kent Regt. Geddes served in Mespot and France & Flanders.

Now don't you go thinking I know my stuff on these knifes, because I don't! About two months ago I decided that I would like to have a few military examples of the Kukri knife in my collection. Before I purchased anything I started to read all the information that I could find on the subject, a task which is so much easier these day's with the internet! If anyone else out there is thinking of purchasing these iconic weapons I would really advise them to do a bit of research before purchasing. Many of the knifes on sale are tourist junk. A genuine fighting kukri has a blade of around 13 inches or more. Antique kukri's cost less than the genuine military issued examples. A good WW1 Mk11 example could set you back around £250. My example came from Chris Scott of 'Great Scott Antiques & Militaria' at an extremely reasonable price. After about three hours work and slight grinding back of the blade to re-shape the missing tip, the knife was transformed into a much more presentable kukri.

Cheers,
Steve.