ART22141 - No 1 projectile shop (Commonwealth Ordnance Factory, Maribyrnong)
Image copyright: © Australian War Memorial
- ID number
- ART22141
- Title
- No 1 projectile shop (Commonwealth Ordnance Factory, Maribyrnong)
- Artist
- Craig, Sybil
- Object type
- Painting
- Place made
- Australia: Victoria, Melbourne
- Date made
- August 1945
- Medium
- oil on hardboard
- Measurement
- overall: 45.4 x 39.7 cm; frame: 62.7 cm x 56 cm
- Collection
- Art
- Description
- As the Second World War escalated, and men began to enlist, women took their place in the factories. Women became the dominant workforce in the munitions factories at Maribyrnong. They wore overalls and snoods over their hair to protect them from the machines and the dirt. They signed on as process workers and were trained on the job for specific operations. The age range of the women varied and the work they did was often dangerous and onerous. Like their male counterparts, they stood on concrete floors in corrugated iron sheds during their eight hour shifts. Craig has captured the hum of the activity of women and machines carrying out repetitive work on a production line.
