By the outbreak of World War II Dame Laura Knight was the most prominent woman artist in Britain. The first woman to be elected to full membership of the Royal Academy of Arts since 1760, Knight was commissioned by the War Artists’ Advisory Committee to produce paintings as war records.

It was Newport’s good fortune that Knight accepted the Number 11 ROF commission and personally chose highly skilled lathe worker Ruby Loftus for her painting.

Knight travelled to the Newport Ordnance Factory in March 1943 and stayed at a house belonging to the factory at 63 Cromwell Road. Over the next three to four weeks Knight painted Loftus at her factory lathe working on the breech ring of a gun.

In 1941, Dame Laura left London due to the danger of bombings and took up residence in the British Camp Hotel (later the Malvern Hills Hotel) in Malvern. From here she was able to travel easily to both Newport and the Midlands, where in 1943 she would paint the iconic wartime image A Balloon Site, Coventry, depicting a WAAF ground crew deploying a barrage balloon.

At the start of the Battle of Britain in 1940, Balloon Command deployed 1466 balloons, of which a third were over London. In May 1941 a first group of Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) volunteers began a 10-week training course in order to relieve more men for active duty.

It was found that 14 women, rather than 20 as initially thought, could replace a 10-man team. By December 1942, 10,000 men had been replaced by some 15,700 WAAF balloon operators.

“Laura had not thought about possible danger to herself, but it was alarming standing at her easel, painting, with heavy armament above. One day a loose wheel came hurtling down. Instead of starting back, Laura threw herself forward, protecting her canvas - she felt the rush of air as the wheel fell on the floor, inches behind her.”
- Janet Dunbar, Laura Knight, 1975

Knight was looked after during her stay in Newport by the superintendent's secretary, Lucinda Holland. As a token of her appreciation, Knight presented Holland with the original watercolor drawing, made in the factory, upon which Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech-Ring was based.

The commission and Knight’s presence in the factory proved a significant boost to worker morale.