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The Ka-bar was the fighting knife issued to USA Marine Corps soldiers from 1942. It had a 6.25 inch clip-point, black finished, carbon steel blade and a stacked leather handle.
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The KAB-500KR is a Soviet television guided aerial bomb that operates on the 'drop and forget' principle. Target lock-on for a parked aircraft is achieved at a range of 15 to 17 kilometres in meteorological visibility distance of 10 kilometres. The warhead can pierce a reinforced concrete barrier up to 1.5 metres thick and average density soil to a depth of 10 metres.
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The KAB-500L is a Soviet semi-active laser homing aerial bomb. It weighs 525 kg and is armed with a 380 kg high explosive warhead.
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Kabar is a colloquial nickname for the American 1219C2 USMC fighting knife.
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Karate (empty hand) is a form of Japanese unarmed combat which has developed over thousands of years with aspects coming from India, Okinawa, China and Japan. It was originally a dual form of meditation and self-defence, it has more recently been perverted into a sport which doesn't do justice to the deep spiritual origins of karate.
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A kata is a series of formal combat techniques used in karate.
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A katana was a Japanese sword used by Samurai.
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The Kent Regiment was a British infantry regiment formed in 1782 from the old 50th Regiment of Foot. The 97th Regiment of Foot later joined as the 2nd Battalion.
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The kettle-hat or chapel-de-fer was a 12th century European helmet with a bowl-shaped skull and a down-turned brim running the length of the edge. The
kettle-hat remained in service, in modified form, until the 20th century.
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Kevlar is a trade name for DPont bullet-proof fabric used in protective clothing, usually bullet-proof vests.
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The KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopastnosti) was the Soviet security and intelligence service from 1954 to 1991.
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The KHAD is the Afghan security service.
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A khanjar is the curved dagger of Oman.
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The King's African Rifles was a British army regiment formed in 1902 by the union of regular colonial forces in British East Africa. Originally there were six founding battalions: 1st (Central Africa) Battalion; 2nd (Central Africa) Battalion; 3rd (East Africa) Battalion (formerly the East Africa Rifles); 4th (Uganda) Battalion; 5th (Uganda) Battalion; 6th (Somaliland) Battalion.
In 1910 the 6th Battalion was disbanded, only to be reformed in 1917 as the Tanganyika battalion. At the start of the 1960's with independence for many of the contributing African countries the battalions started to be redesignated and in 1964 the regiment was disbanded. During the Great War and Second World War the regiment saw action chiefly in east Africa, but in 1944 also served in Burma.
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The King's Regiment is a British infantry regiment formed in 1685. It comprises the 1st or Regular Battalion, stationed with its families in Cyprus until 1998, and the 5th/8th or Territorial Army Battalion which has bases in Liverpool, Warrington and Manchester. The Colonel in Chief is Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and the Colonel of the Regiment is Brigadier Jeremy Gaskell OBE. Officers join the regiment from all over the United Kingdom but the regiment prides itself on its unique position as the Army's only City Regiment, recruiting its soldiers - the Kingsmen - from Liverpool and Manchester. The Regiment expanded in 1756 to two battalions. In 1758, one formed the 8th or King's Regiment of Foot and the other became the 63rd which was later still to become the Manchester Regiment. In 1958, these two Regiments rejoined as the King's Regiment. The Regiment has battle honours from service all over the world, from Marlborough's battles in the 18th century to Korea in 1953. In the Great War the Regiment raised the second largest number of battalions of any regiment in the Army - 87.
During the Second World War, the Regiment served world-wide. Battalions fought in France in 1940, took part in the heroic defence of Malta, landed in the first few minutes of the D-Day operation and fought in the jungles of Burma. A battalion of the Regiment fought with great distinction in the first Chindit expedition and another battalion fought with equal bravery, providing the glider-borne spearhead of the second Chindit expedition. Battalions fought in Italy and across North-west Europe until the end of the war. In the last 50 years, regular battalions, often reinforced from territorial battalions, have served on operations in Malaya, Kenya, Kuwait, Northern Ireland, Hong Kong and Belize. Garrisons have been provided for Guyana, the Falklands and of course for extended periods all over Germany. Men from Liverpool and Manchester have been decorated for gallantry in all theatres and most recently in Northern Ireland.
The Regiment's volunteer battalion tradition stems both from its 5th King's (Liverpool) Battalion (which was originally the third to be raised in the country and the first in the North West of England) and the 8th Battalion The Manchester Regiment. This tradition is maintained in the 5th/8th Battalion which includes a Scottish Company, tracing its origins to the Liverpool Scottish Battalion whose doctor gained one of only three bars ever awarded to the Victoria Cross. In total, over 23 Victoria Crosses and one George Cross have been awarded to men of the Regiment, including one of the very few VCs to have been awarded between the Great War and the Second World War. The 1st Battalion comprises 35 officers recruited from all over the country and nearly 600 men recruited almost exclusively from Liverpool and Manchester. In addition there are many thousands of former serving officers and soldiers settled in the North West of England who retain the closest links with the Regiment through the two Regimental offices in Liverpool and Manchester.
The Regiment has a fine sporting record, having won the unique Army double of boxing and football championships in its tercentenary year of 1985. Many of the Regiment's boxers have fought for their country and the Battalion football team had the privilege of training with England's winning 1966 World Cup Squad. Liverpool, Manchester and the Borough of Tameside have honoured the Regiment with the granting of the Freedom of the Cities and the Borough. This very close link is exemplified by the warmth and goodwill extended to the Regiment by civic and commercial institutions in both cities and the borough. The Regiment is immensely proud of its unique position as the Army's only City Regiment.
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The Kings Own Scottish Borderers are a British army regiment. They were raised in 1689 under the name of the 25th Foot for the defence of Edinburgh by the 3rd Earl of Leven. In 1805 the 25th Foot was renamed the
Kings Own Scottish Borderers.
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The Kings Royal Rifle Corps (also known as the 60th Rifles) was a British infantry regiment raised in North America in 1755 under the name of the 60th Royal Americans (also 60th Regiment of Foot), a title which ceased to be used in 1824 and in 1830 the title Kings Royal Rifle Corps was adopted. They were nicknamed the 'Greenjackets' and 'Sweeps' because of their dark-green full-dress uniform. The Kings Royal Rifle Corps is notable as the most prolific in battle honours of any British regiment.
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The Knights of the Golden Circle were an organization, formed among the 'Copperheads' during the American Civil War to rescue Confederate prisoners held by the United States.
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Kreimhild Line was the German name for a fortified line of trenches and pillboxes in the Great War. Designed as a fall-back position some miles behind the Hindenburg Line. It was not completed until 1918.
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A kris (creese) was a Javanese dagger with a usually wavy blade, carried by almost all males over the age of fourteen in Java and the Malay Peninsular around the turn of the century.
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KSK is an abbreviation for Ethyl-iodo-acetate, a tear gas used during the Second World War. It had a smell faintly of peardrops. It caused pain in the eyes, a copious flow of tears, spasms of the eyelids and irritation of shaved skin.
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The Volkswagen Kubelwagen was the standard German military car of the Second World War, produced from 1940 to 1944 in a number of variants. The Kubelwagen had a top speed of 100 kmh and a range of 600 km.
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The Kukri is a traditional Nepalese general purpose knife, carried by the Ghurkha soldiers of the British army and the preferred survival knife of many survival experts. Produced in various sizes by a number of companies, the military model has a 11 inch Bolo type blade with a pronounced downward curve, made of carbon steel and a bevel edge. The weight and curved shape of the Kukri gives it incredible chopping power and strength.
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Abbreviations
Warfare
