Ok, potted history of the Kukri:
Ancient Egypt, the pharoes soldiers carried a sword with a long, curved blade, the sword was called the Kopesh. Now it is believed that this developed into the sword carried by the Greek Hoplite, called a Kopis. This bladeform is beleived to have been brought to Northern India by the Macedonians under Alexander in the 4th century BC, this led to numerous similar blade shapes in India, particularly in Nepal (it is rather more complicated than this involving the occupation of Nepal and a revolution by the Gorkali people) where two kinds of fighting blade became very important, the long curved sword (Kora) and a shorter blade used more as a tool than for fighting, this was the Kukri.
Three of the blades I have referred to are pictured above, note the key features that show the liniage, i.e. a blade that curves forward which tends to produce what is known as a 'sweet spot' on the inside of the curve, this part tends to be rediculously sharp (I am VERY careful with knives and still manage to cut myself regularly without even noticing it) whilst the base of the 'drop' is hard and capable of seriously heavy duty cutting.
And this is a beautiful WW2 type Kukri, not the similarities to the blades above, particularly to the Kopis. The Kukri is a fantastic weapon and tool, capable of being used both as a knife, a dagger and an axe. The Gurkhas are a race of Nepalese mountaine men who live high in the Himalayas, when the East India Co managed to pick a fight with them the Gurkhas won but so respected the British troops they gave something like a hundred men to the British crown. Ever since then the Gurkha people see it as a great honour to serve in the Gurkha units in the British and Indian army, they have a reputation as some of the most loyal and efficient soldiers in the world. I am currently reading a memoir of a chap who served with them in Burma and am constantly amazed by the way these men faced all kinds of hardships with characteristic cheerfulness and professionalism. It is hardly surpriseing that the British officers who commanded them saw it as an honour.
Best plane of the entire war? Well for the time it saw action the Hurricane, failing that the Spitfire, both because they are beautiful, great aircraft in their own right and they saved our arses (in Britain anyhow). I don't want to get into any kind of firepower vs power:weight ratio argument, I just happen to really like these two (rather fashionable) aircraft.