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The kukri ( or ‘khukuri’) , the Nepalese knife used by the Gurkha Regiments is a lethal weapon which could be used to behead opponents.<ref>William Pennington in his autobiography ''Pick up your Parrots and Monkeys: The Life of a Boy Soldier in India'' (2003) reports being saved in [[Second World War|WW2 Burma]] by a Gurkha who beheaded a Japanese who was about to kill the author (page 333). Pennington also reported seeing Ghurkas playing football with severed Japanese heads (page 332).</ref><ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/43301154?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents "Henry George "Hank" Baker: An Obituary: 23rd June 1918 – 15th January 2006"] by Roger Croston ''The Tibet Journal'' Vol. 30/31, No. 4/1, Contributions to the study of Tibetan medicine (Winter 2005 & Spring 2006), pp. 193-196. jstor.org. Register and read online for free, see [[Miscellaneous tips]]. Page 193 details an incident against tribesmen in the Ahmedzai Salient, Waziristan, North West Frontier c 1939</ref>
The kukri has been used from the time the Nepalese joined the East India Company Bengal Army in 1815<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140220115928/http://torabladesforum.co.uk/19th-century-accounts-of-the-kukri-in-action_topic2439.html 19th Century accounts of the kukri in action] by 'Sirupate' [https://web.archive.org/web/20140220115846/http://torabladesforum.co.uk/gurkha-and-kukri-historical_forum5.html Gurkha and Kukri Historical] Tora Blades Forum, an archived pagepages.</ref>
There have still only ever been 5 Officially military pattern number kukris in official British Gurkha issue.<ref>[http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?77657-The-20th-Century-British-Military-Pattern-Gurkha-Issue-Kukri The 20th Century British Military Pattern Gurkha Issue Kukri] by Jonathan R.S. Sword Forum. Contains
