Welcome to Wartime Newport

This online exhibit is a testament to the vital role played by the Number 11 Royal Ordnance Factory in Newport during the Second World War.

Recognition of No. 11 ROF’s achievements came in 1943, when Dame Laura Knight was commissioned by the War Artists’ Advisory Committee to paint a factory machinist. The resulting painting, entitled Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech Ring, the resulting painting would become an enduring wartime image.

At the same time, Stanley Lewis, a painting master at Newport School of Art, was drawing and painting moments of everyday life in Newport.

This wealth of archive material, together with personal testimony from factory workers, provides valuable insight into life and work on the Home Front in Wales.