With Remembrance Day at the weekend – and a BBC television series World on Fire putting the emphasis on the Second World War – we selected 25 which reveal the conflict closer to home.
They focus on everything from the evacuation of Wearside schoolchildren to air raids.
17. Working in the shipyards
Women workers were pictured in Sunderland's shipyards in 1941. Photo: Sunderland Echo
18. The Home Guard
A Home Guard unit in March 1941. Photo: Sunderland Echo
19. Defending their country in December 1941
The Auxiliary Territorial Service are pictured at the Grangetown Battery in December 1941. Photo: Sunderland Echo
20. An air raid near Redby School
The scene of an air raid in May 1941. Photo: Sunderland Echo