Figure 11 target

**batonroundcollector** · 23rd May 2022, 05:58 PM

I was wondering about the background of the ubiquitous Fig 11 target (I have myself a 3/4-size metal one) - when was it introduced, how was the design settled upon etc... there must be a history of it somewhere??

**Slick** · 24th May 2022, 03:42 AM

An interesting question. I received the pictured target in a trade a few years back. Thrown in on the deal. I found it interesting enough to frame it. It's about 6"/15cm tall. Very official. A nearly unnoticed addition to the markings are the letters just below the silhouette. Can't really date it, but am guessing WW2, considering.

target (2).jpg

**justin** · 25th May 2022, 05:35 PM

No 11 1948.jpg No 11 1958.jpg No 11 1959.jpg
The No. 11/Figure 11 target seems to have been introduced in 1948, according to Dave Clark's British Targets book. The left hand image above is the 1948 example, replaced in 1952 with the centre image (a colour version was also produced). The centre image remains referenced in Infantry Training Volume III (pamphlet no. 32) up until 1958. The Right hand No. 11 was introduced from 1959.

**batonroundcollector** · 26th May 2022, 11:31 AM

Good info thanks

I'd wondered about the design itself (a charging figure, in contrast to previous stationary ones then) and which 'enemy' it was meant to represent? If introduced in 1959 you'd expect it to depict Soviet or other Warsaw Pact soldier but the soldier it most seems to represent of the time would be a Bundeswehr one armed with a G3 or possibly US with M14 (allied forces) - I wonder if this has any basis...

**justin** · 26th May 2022, 12:52 PM

Slick, your target is shown in British Targets, but the author didn't know a lot abut it - he suggests it is Canadian, circa 1940. It looks like a 25/30 yard range target, simulating a distance of 200 yards. A rarer type!