Anna Airy was one of the first women to be officially commissioned as a war artist. She was commissioned by the Munitions Committee of the Imperial War Museum in June 1918 to produce four paintings. These were to depict munitions production at a crucial stage in the First World War when the tactical use of heavy artillery had become central to the success of the Allied forces.
We see the interior view of a shell forge showing the glowing hot shell cases emerging from the furnaces on the left of the composition. Munitions workers man the furnaces on the left; in the foreground is the back of a worker leaning over a glowing hot shell case. Sunlight streams in through the open wall on the right of the forge.
This piece was a particular challenge for Airy who had to work with great speed to capture the colour of the molten shells. The tremendous heat of the interior added to the intensity, and one one occasion she records that the ground became so hot that her shoes were burnt off her feet.