Straightening forgings of rifle barrels, Lithgow, S.A. Factory

Depicts heated forgings being straightened by hand before going to the lathes for machining, drilling and filing at the Lithgow Small Arms Factory, New South Wales. Ralph Malcolm Warner (1902-1966) was appointed Official War Artist in 1943, covering the activities of the RAAF in Canada, United States and the Bahamas. His first mission was in Papua New Guinea recording Australian operation against the Japanese. In 1945 Warner continued to work as a war artist recording civil and industrial war efforts and food production in areas of New South Wales and Victoria. After the war he returned to commercial art, designing posters, murals and postage stamps and illustrating books.