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: 11 Oct 1939 Letter signed by Albert Einstein is delivered to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging the United States to rapidly develop the atomic bomb before Germany does, the inspiration for the Manhattan Project.  More ↓
11 Oct 1942 Battle of Cape Esperance: US and Japanese naval forces clash off northwest coast of Guadalcanal. US victory opens supply lines for Allies, prevents Japanese reinforcement.
11 Oct 1942 Wave of relentless Luftwaffe air attacks against Malta begins, continuing for 17 days with heavy losses of British and German planes and pilots.
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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.

For good results, try entering this: army gloves or mittens. Then click the Search button.

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