Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 379:
Description
RARE 1937 Luftwaffe Gauntlets, III. Lehr-Geschw. M. Pre-War 1937-Dated Luftwaffe Flying Gauntlets by Richard Ehrhardt, Unit-Stamped to III. Lehr-Geschwader Offered is a pair of German Luftwaffe Model 1937 brown leather flying gauntlets, unit-marked to III. Lehr-Geschw. – the Lehrgeschwader, the Luftwaffe’s premier pre-war experimental and tactics-development wing that would later provide the nucleus for LG 1 and LG 2. Both interior cuffs retain dark, sharp ink stampings recording the date 1937, size 91/2, the maker Richard Ehrhardt, inventory number 158, the boxed III. Lehr-Geschw. unit stamp, and the Luftwaffen-Bekleidungsamt Berlin acceptance mark L.B.A.B. 37, confirming official government procurement and issue. No separate published biography or unit history accompanies this pair; the story here is carried entirely by the depot and unit markings themselves, which associate the gloves with the Lehrgeschwader formation without identifying an individual wearer or specific flight. Lehrgeschwader was among the more significant formations of the interwar Luftwaffe, tasked with refining doctrine for dive-bombing, close air support, and multi-engine tactics that would be tested in Spain and employed across the opening campaigns of the Second World War. Gauntlets of this pattern were standard five-finger issue for open- and early enclosed-cockpit flight crews, worn over liner gloves for warmth at altitude and cut with reinforced gauntlet cuffs to seal against flight suits. Most surviving Luftwaffe glove issue can be traced to line squadrons rather than instructional or experimental wings, making a dated, depot-inspected pair bearing a Lehrgeschwader unit stamp an uncommon survival tying tangible equipment to the formative years of German air power on the eve of war. The gauntlets are constructed of supple, grained brown leather with a five-finger cut and extended gauntlet-style cuffs, natural shearling lining visible at the openings. Each glove has a wrist adjustment strap and a second strap across the cuff, with reddish-brown enameled snap buttons marked ‘RE’ beneath ‘Guete Marke, ‘ Richard Ehrhardt’s registered trademark. The interior cuff of each glove bears the full stamp grouping described above, rendered in bold, legible black ink against the tanned reverse leather, unusually dark and crisp for a mark of this age. Condition is very good to excellent: the leather remains pliable with light age creasing and surface wear consistent with genuine period handling, and is free of major drying or cracking. The shearling lining is intact at both cuff openings. The snap hardware retains its fittings with only minor verdigris and finish loss expected of pre-war base-metal components, and the adjustment straps remain functional and in place on both gloves. A scarce, sharply stamped prewar Luftwaffe pair whose 1937 depot acceptance and III. Lehr-Geschw. unit marking offer a direct and legible link to Germany’s foremost pre-war combat-development wing.
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