It is the 'angel of peace', which stands in Norwich as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the Boer War 1899/1902…but there is another reason to remember the part we played in this vicious and cruel conflict.

More than 300 men died in South Africa, and the memorial, costing £1,600, was unveiled by Major-General Wynne in November 1904 in front of a huge crowd.

This was a brutal colonial battle which resulted in thousands of deaths – many in British  concentration camps.

More than a century ago Norwich was a manufacturing city – you think of it and the chances are we made it – from tins of mustard to aircraft and more.

One of the biggest and most famous of all the companies was Boulton & Paul, where generations of men and women worked at the huge factories.

The story of their involvement in this war is told in the book Men Who Have Made Norwich by Edward and Wilfred Burgess, first published in 1904.

They wrote that during the Boer War every newspaper of importance in the kingdom had some reference to the large contract entrusted by the government to Boulton & Paul.

And that the people of Norwich and Great Yarmouth were proud of the fact that they had in their midst a commercial house which could, at three months’ notice, complete an order valued at £100,000, to the satisfaction of the administration.

What B&P did was build 150 large bungalows, said to be used as married officers’ residences attached to the army of occupation in South Africa.

They had been despatched, it was reported, to “the gentlemen in khaki ordered South.”

“The magnitude of this undertaking will be conjectured when we add that the bungalows in question were 80ft long by 22ft wide, and that each contained a drawing-room, dining room, four bedrooms, and bathroom, with a verandah all round.

“Connected with the main building by a covered way was another structure to be used as a kitchen block, with a servant’s bedroom, ordinary offices and this building also had a verandah all round,” they wrote.

“Over 600 workmen were engaged upon the building of these 150 bungalows, and prompt to time, they were ready for delivery.

“It should be stated that three large steamers were specially chartered to convey the 150 buildings to South Africa, and each vessel took some 6,000 tons of material manufactured by Boulton & Paul Ltd, at the Norwich and Yarmouth Works,” they added.

The company also made a big convalescent camp in Hampshire.

Today B&P is gone but the memories of this world-famous company, which went on to make aircraft and so much more, live on.

Men Who Have Made Norwich, the story of 40 family businesses, was re-published by the Norfolk Industrial Archaeology Society with the text and images digitally processed by chairman Philip Tolley in 2014.