Original German WWII Matched Pair of Luftwaffe Leather Flying Mittens by Matthäus Röder - LBA Marked and Dated 1939

Original Items: Only One Pair Available. This is a lovely pair of German World War Two Luftwaffe Leather Flying Mittens, which look to have seen light to moderate use during the war. They feature dark blue full grain leather exteriors, with natural leather interiors on the wrist guard cuffs, and a woven fuzzy insulated lining in the "hand" portion of the gauntlet style mittens. The mittens have separate index fingers, indicating use by the air gunners, who would need to be able to move their trigger finger separately. They feature snap adjustments around the wrist and cuffs for a tighter fit, very important in cold weather.

There is no size marking inside the gloves, and they seem to be close to a U.S. "Large" or maybe "Medium". They both bear the same maker marking on the insides of the cuffs, which is a bit faint:-

Matthäus Röder
Lederhandschuhfabrik
Erlangan (Bayern)
1939

Both are also stamped with L.B.A. (S) 39 on the interior cuff near the maker mark. This indicates they were inspected at the Luftwaffebekleidungsamt (Air Force Clothing Office) in Sonneberg, Germany in 1939. This marking is only seen on pre and early war Luftwaffe items. We checked the snaps, and all are marked with S. H. B., a known maker of snaps for WWII Germany.

Condition of both is very good, still showing much of the original blue finish to the leather, though both have definitely seen a good amount of service, with some wear on the grip side of the mittens. The leather is still supple, and we do not see any dry rot or other degradation present. The interiors do show some staining to the insulation, and the stitching holding in the insulation in place around the wrist is coming undone inside the left mitten.

A very nice set of Luftwaffe flying mittens, ready to add to your collection!