Maskenbrille and Jumps?

[clinton brunt]

Hello All,

I'm new to the forum, and have what may be a basic question. Its a two-part question regarding the infantry maskenbrille.

The first part is regarding wear of the maskenbrille other than with the mask. In several images of regular German infantry and a few of Fallschirmjagers, I see men wearing the maskenbrille rather than issue glasses- seems the most common with motorcyclists. As a person that wears glasses, in active service I would rather wear the maskenbrille myself. But was there any regulation stating one could- or could not- wear maskenbrille when they chose? Or was it simply a case of replacing lost/broken issue glasses?

Secondly, I can't recall seeing any Fallschirmjager wearing glasses while entering or sitting within the JU52... So, were glasses allowed on the jump? I can imagine a regular pair of glasses easily being lost both exiting the plane, as well as upon landing. However, the maskenbrille would be much more secure and would likely stay on the wearer's head during the jump.

Any suggestions or ideas regarding this??

Thanks in advance,
Clint Brunt

[oli4vercammen]

Good question! As a re-enactor I would also like to know this.

[Wessels]

As a current paratrooper in the US Army I would like to add my thoughts on this subject: I highly believe that eye wear of any type would be verboten during airborne operations. I wear glasses and as practice, wait until after I've landed and policed up my chute to pull out my glasses and put them on. A lot of items ranging from helmets, night vision to even weapons get lost during a jump. It;s not always the heavy wind, but rather the initial shock of the chute opening that jars items away....glasses (Maskenbrille included) would easily be torn away. Hope this helps!? Bestens! Wessels