U.S. Military Gloves & Mittens

There are many and varied jobs to do in the military, including those that are rough, freezing cold or red hot. In addition to general purpose hand warmers for all personnel, gloves have been developed for many specialized military purposes (e.g. handling barbed wire) as well as for specific occupational specialties. This Olive-Drab.com page presents some of the gloves and mittens issued to U.S. forces since World War II that are not covered on other pages of the section on Gloves & Mittens.

A soldier struggles with an anchor spike to screw in a picket, wearing special gloves that are made for handling barbed wire. Fort Belvoir, VA, August 1942
A soldier struggles with an anchor spike to screw in a picket, wearing special gloves that are made for handling barbed wire. Fort Belvoir, VA, August 1942.

Today in WW II: 17 Aug 1940 Italian armed forces under Marshal d'Armata Rodolfo Graziani invaded and occupied British Somaliland, threatening American Red Sea merchant shipping and British access to India.  More ↓
17 Aug 1942 Raid on Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, led by Lt. Colonel Evans F. Carlson, USMC.
17 Aug 1943 RAF attack (Operation Hydra) on German V-2 rocket facility at Peenemünde demolishes the factory. Over 500 Allied bombers dropped 1600 tons of explosives and 280 tons of incendiaries.
17 Aug 1943 First Quebec Conference [QUADRANT] held between British, Canadian and United States governments [August 17-24].
17 Aug 1943 Just hours after the last German units evacuated the city, elements of the US 3d Infantry Division's 7th Infantry Regiment enter Messina, Sicily, the final objective of Operation Husky.
Visit the Olive-Drab.com World War II Timeline for day-by-day events 1939-1945! See also WW2 Books.

Gloves, Wool, OD, Leather Palm

Gloves, Wool, OD, Leather Palm were used by infantry and specialized units like 10th Mountain Division in World War II. The back side was all wool, in olive drab color

The standard glove for World War II infantry after 1942, including specialized units like the 10th Mountain Division. This is a knit olive drab wool five finger glove with a thin leather palm to make it more durable. Stock number range is 73-G-43850 to 73-G-43885. Contract numbers for a few samples:

  • Size 9: QM35235, QM35207
  • Size 10: QM35029
  • Size 11: QM35602

U.S. Army Air Corps Flying Gloves

During WW II, the Army Air Corps issued a series of flying gloves with nomenclature and descriptions as follows:

  • A-7: calfskin, shearling lining, short fingers
  • A-9: long glove covering wrist too, mitten plus index and thumb, pigskin, shearling lining
  • A-9A: same as A-9 but horsehide or other leathers
  • A10: five finger glove with knit wrists
  • A-12: mitten, OD poplin shell, leather palm, white wool lining, wrist strap
  • B-3: leather five finger lightweight glove

Gloves, Flyers, Summer Type GS/FRP-2

This Nomex glove with leather palm is a lightweight, long, unlined, summer flyer's glove (photo, right). Nomex is a knitted, fire resistant artificial fabric. These gloves are issued in green, black and tan with a series of NSNs differing for size and color, e.g. NSN 8415-01-029-0109 for Size 7, Green.

Military Gloves and Mittens For Specialized Purposes

In addition to the ones listed on this page, the U.S. military has produced and issued many other types of gloves and mittens for specialized purposes. Examples include heavy leather gloves for construction, heat resistant gloves for machine gun crews who have to handle hot barrels, gloves designed for handling barbed wire (top photo on page), and chemical protective gloves for working with corrosive chemicals.

Nomex glove with leather palm is a lightweight, long, unlined, summer flyer's glove

Find More Information on the Internet

There are many fine websites that have additional information on this topic, too many to list here and too many to keep up with as they come and go. Use this Google web search form to get an up to date report of what's out there.

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