Women's Canteen at Phoenix Works, Bradford

Flora Lion was a portrait painter who was given access to paint factory scenes in Leeds and Bradford during World War One. Her female weapons workers are seen as a sisterhood of bold, handsome young women. Nearly a million women worked in the munitions industry during the First World War, and many of the images commissioned from women artists show female weapons workers and their surroundings. Women were already working in factories before the war but had been concentrated in particular industries and earned low wages. The introduction of conscription for men in 1916 prompted an expansion of opportunities for women entering previously male roles. Canteens were a popular wartime welfare innovation aimed at maximising production. For many working class women, this was their first opportunity to enjoy a good regular meal.