She was commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee (WAAC) and paid 100 guineas for the work, which was undertaken in July and August 1942.

A Balloon Site was displayed at the 1943 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, along with Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech-ring (1943).

From March 1939, Coventry had been protected by barrage balloons; the city was an industrial target and contained aircraft factories on the outskirts.

The Ministry asked the WAAF if Knight could be commissioned again,[7] and, in October 1941, she received a request from Mr Dickey, the Secretary of the WAAC, to paint members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force based at RAF Wythall—the regional headquarters of RAF Balloon Command—which was six miles (ten kilometres) from Birmingham.

[9] A Balloon Site was displayed at the 1943 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, as was Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech-ring, a painting Knight had just completed.

[10][11][12] According to the art historians Teresa Grimes, Judith Collins and Oriana Baddeley, A Balloon Site and In For Repairs "are about activity, the concentration and absorption in work generated by a group endeavour are central to their composition".