BACKGROUND: With the advent of military aircraft in WWI most of the early pilots soon discovered that appropriate protective flight goggles were a necessity due to the cold, sun glare and the all too frequent occurrence of oil leaking into the slipstream and covering the pilot. Originally the German military was caught unprepared and no specific protective goggles for pilots were available which resulted in the pilots utilizing commercially produced or captured enemy protective goggles. Early in the war the Carl Zeiss optics firm of Jena developed specific protective flight goggles that became the standard pattern for other manufacturers. Further improvements and refinements of assorted protective flight goggles continued in the inter-war years and by the start of WWII there were no fewer then nine types of protective flight goggles available and nine main manufacturers including, Carl Zeiss, Ernst Leitz, Phillip Winter, O.W. Wagner, Nitsche & Günther, Knothe, Cellowaro, Bauer, Uvex and Auer.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Standard teardrop, aviator style lenses with separate grey painted aluminum frames. Protecting rubber eye sockets are missing as well the the screw/screws that connects the two sections together. Nice original strap, spare lenses (broken) and original case. Maker marked and dated for 1939.