Gurkha officer's uniform

J

Johan van Zyl

Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Messages
372
I'm embarking on a crazy scheme and hope there might be some of the forumites who will say to me: "Carry on - you're doing OK!" You see, we have these re-enactments at our shooting range near my city. We all belong to this historical firearms collectors' society, and we shoot regularly. At our meets we all wear period clothes, i.e. of boers fighting the Second South African War of Independence, or of Germans fighting in WW II. Some even wear Scottish uniforms including kilts! (Dunno if they wear anything underneath....!)

To continue, I am the only member interested in, and collecting khukuris. I thought it would be a good idea if I could wear a British uniform of WW I of the type with which my 1915 Mk I khukuri could be worn. It will have to be a mockup of a British officer's uniform of one of the Gurkha Brigades. In my ignorance I assume a British Gurkha officer of WW I wore his khukuri as well as, possibly, a Webley revolver. He would not, I expect be issued with a rifle. I would, however, be shooting a Martini-Henry rifle in .450 calibre.

If some of you guys could be so kind as to show me a picture of such a British Gurkha officer, I could consider getting, or making up, a replica uniform by some means or another. At least it would be a start in getting this scheme to work. In addition, do you have alternative suggestions for me? Why I am thinking along these lines, is my desire to show off my Mk I khukuri with a correct uniform of the period. I would be as different as the other guys at the shoots, and that's fine.

Wish you could see us! Last Saturday we got together for a shoot. It was pouring rain and we were wet through, soon. The twenty of us grouped together under a tiny lean-to on the range. Soon we had a brazier going full blast under the lean-to, as well as a shooting table for us to start shooting from. The rain never abated during the whole of the day. The lean-to roof was leaking, and the smoke from the brazier was making our eyes smart. We put meat on the coals and partook of some Old Brown Sherry every once in a while to drive off the cold and wet. Between shots we recalled to one another of swaps made or new acquisitions purchased. I myself got hold of a .22 Oberndorf Mauser rifle as well as a Pattern 14 rifle in .303 calibre (American made) when I visited my father-in-law near Cape Town about two weeks ago.

Sorry about al this banter, guys. BTTT, what you say about the Gurkha officer's uniform and accoutrements; can you show a pic and\or details, please? :D :D
 
i have a couple of ghurka officers from ww1 ww2 ect.
basicly it is the officers uniform standard,with sambrowne, pistol webly usualy, worn on right side, with khukri next to ,or behind on hip. sometomes pillbox hat, sometimes slouch hat, somtimes peak cap. i can email you a couple if you like.:)
 
Johan,
"Carry on - you're doing OK!" I really have nothing to offer in the way of adding authenticity to your kit. Thanks, however, for reminding me that sometimes rainy days make for the best of times. Congratulations on your new acquisitions.
Regards,
Greg
 
Johan,
Sounds like you and your friends are having too much fun!:)
Here is a rather grainy pic of an officer of the 1st Battalion, 8th Gurkha Rifles, 1914, from The Gurkha Rifles by J.B.R. Nicholson (Men-At-Arms Series). "The Gurkha officer...wears light khaki drill service dress with black buttons and boots and Sam Browne belt, the latter with both braces, and a khaki haversack. The revolver on the right is almost invisible but the ammunition pouch on the left is clear", as is the handle of a khukuri unless my eyes are deceiving me.
 
And from The Gurkhas by Mike Chappell (Osprey Miliary Elite Series), an illustration of the Western Front in 1915, showing a British Captain of the 1st Gurkhas:
 
great pics , hope you dont mind i added them to my collection to.
regards kendo:)
 
KENDO, GREG, BERKLEY: I must apologise for not replying sooner, but I sometimes struggle to get into Bladeforums. The program sometimes takes a long time to open up, if at all (even though I have a new 128 RAM 1200 MHz 20 GB 'puter). Well, I thank you all for your contributions. Kendo was kind enough to send me about a dozen black-and-white pics of various Gurkhas in action, which showed me a lot about the different uniforms. There were also one or two really awe-inspiring officers of the type you wouldn't like to meet on the parade ground (or the battlefield, for that matter)! Berk, your pics show a bit more detail, which I thank you for most heartily. I'm going to get right to it, and see what I can get together. Wish I had more time to spend in libraries that stock the right kind of books! :( :D :D :D
 
Berk, I seem to have made up my mind to use the illustration of the officer of the 1st Battalion, 8th Gurkha Rifles, 1914, as my "model". The SB belt shouldn't be too big a problem, the black boots I already have, the khaki trousers no problem, the khukuri and scabbard I already have (thank goodness!), the revolver seems to be in a canvas holster (I already have both canvas and leather holsters), the hat I can manage, so it seems the biggest job I'll have is the making of the khaki service jacket and the strange wrapped-style leggings. I'll have to try to get patterns for them. Then of course I'll have to keep my weather eye open for Gurkha ensignia and pips, or replicas of same.

I trust you're right about the khuk in the picture. If an officer wasn't supposed to wear a khuk, the whole exercise is fruitless. Then I'll have to become a rifleman (at my age)! :D :D :D
 
dont worry the ghurka officers wore khukris,
the english officers assignd to the ghurkas,now thats another thing,most would but some also liked to wear sabres,from what i see in photo's. so you got no problems.:D
as for the leggings my grandfather was in the lancashire fuseliers,
and wore those,i think they were called, puttees,
they were just khaki bandage like materiel wound round and round the legs.someone correct me here if i am wrong.;)
 
Johan,
Just for you, here is an online source for reproduction puttees. BTW, I think puttees (bandages wrapped around legs by mountain climbers as protection against cold), cummerbunds (sashes wrapped around the waist, useful for holding knives such as khukuris), and puggarees (strips of cloth wrapped around a hat and trailed down the back of the neck as protection against the sun - cf. Gurhka and Australian slouch hats) are all north Indian inventions, adopted as part of the British colonial military uniform.
 
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