div patch ?

[sscrooge]

got this the other day from the vets son, he told me his father was a sergeant in the gurkhas , this was his but not sure if its one he bought out there tho, can anybody tell me what the top round patch is ? cheers Dave

[Marc Sherriff]

Top = Indian Beach Groups
Bottom = 14th Army

[sscrooge]

Thanks Marc for the help rgds Dave

[ROBB]

Another cracking piece .Love those patches attached to the scabbard . Rob

[peter monahan]

"got this the other day from the vets son, he told me his father was a sergeant in the gurkhas"

Not to rain on your parade, but all NCOs in Gurkha regiments - naiks [corporal] and havildars [sergeants] were Ghurkhas, as were the 'Viceroy's Commissioned Officers' - Subedars & Subedar Majors [senior warrant officers, roughly equivalent to lieutenants and captains in authority].

The veteran, if he's British, could have been attached to a Gurkha unit as a trainer but could not be a member as such. Sadly, because the Gurkhas are considered 'sexy' by collectors, many many such stories exist and perfectly good war service gets confused and tarnished when vets or their families "improve on" the true facts.

Having said all that, its a great example of a well made non-issue kukri. The issue ones, made largely in the UK in WWII oddly enough, had a heavier blade ['rounder'] and a plain wood handle. If one is very lucky, it comes with a khaki webbing 'frog' to attach it to the belt. Yours looks like it was carefully made, possibly for presentation by a regiment to a British instructor. Niece piece!