We delved into the Echo archives to find 17 images of Wearside going on with daily life despite the ever-present threat of German bombs.
They cleaned up after air raids, built air raid shelters, learned how to use gas masks, went about their daily lives and smiled through adversity.
Take a look at 17 reminders of Sunderland and County Durham in 1940.
1. Building an air raid shelter
Many Sunderland people had air raid shelters in their gardens and here's one being built on the Ford Estate in March 1939. Photo: SE
2. Trying a gas mask
Everyone had to learn how to use a gas mask and here's one being tried on a child at the Commercial Road School just before the start of the war. Photo: SE
3. The Joplings store
In 1940, a German air raid bomb blew a railway truck from the nearby station into the front window of the Joseph's store. Yet somehow, the store kept going. Photo: Sunderland Echo
4. Bombed out of their homes
These Southwick families had nowhere to live when German bombs destroyed their homes in September 1940. They responded by getting together and playing dominoes while they waited to be rehoused. Photo: Sunderland Echo