大象传媒

Boulton & Paul were producing everything from chicken wire to church pews when war broke out. With their order books bare they turned to the government and won contracts for a range of construction products vital to the war effort.

The company is best remembered as manufacturers of aircraft which were made in their Riverside factory and taken to Mousehold Heath for assembly and distribution.

Most were sent to fly missions over the Western Front. As well as scouting and bombing raids pilots would engage in dog fights above the trenches.

British planes lagged behind their German contemporaries as initially they lacked the technology to mount guns which could shoot through propellers.

Brian Holmes moved from Norwich with his family when the company鈥檚 aircraft production was relocated to Wolverhampton in the 1930s. Here he talks about his own experience working at Boulton & Paul and the company鈥檚 move in 1916 from Rose Lane to the Riverside of Norwich.

Location: Riverside, Norwich, Norfolk NR1 1WR
Image: Boulton & Paul hangar on mousehold, courtesy of Clare Everitt

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