Friday’s D-Day supplement showed the huge role Sussex played in the historic Allied liberation of Europe 70 years ago. But given the proximity of the county to occupied Europe, Sussex was very much on the front line throughout 1939 to 1945. Reporter Ben James looks back through our archive for more.

WITH the fall of France in 1940, the South Coast of England became our first and last line of defence.

The lives of those in Sussex and especially residents in seaside towns and cities would be in constant danger.

Evacuees, who had been sent to the South Coast thinking it was safe, were sent further east and mines and tank defences were placed on our beaches.

In Brighton the middle parts of both piers were taken away so invading German troops couldn’t use them as temporary loading docks.

The city was filled with anti-aircraft guns in an attempt to shoot down German bombers before they made it to London.

In particular there were gun placements in Preston Park on the cycle track as well as in Blakers Park.

Unfortunately the mass of guns did not prevent heavy bombing in the city and by the end of the war 227 civilians had been killed and 510 seriously injured.

The air raid sirens sounded more than 1,000 times across the six years, sending people scurrying to the shelters.

More than 20,000 homes were destroyed across Brighton, Hove, Rottingdean, Saltdean and Shoreham with an estimated 476 high-explosive bombs dropped.

One particularly deadly raid was on September 14, 1940, when a bomb landed on the Odeon cinema in Kemp Town.

A huge crowd had gathered that afternoon to watch a matinee when the bomb came through the roof and exploded near the screen. Fifty-three died, including many children.

Two years later a bomb landed on the child welfare centre in Sussex Street, killing three children and injuring expectant mothers.

Two months after that, 25 German planes attacked Brighton at noon, dropping bombs and machine gunning people in the streets, including children on their way home from school.

There were 24 deaths including two boys and two policemen.

Brighton and Hove, like many other places along the South Coast, was heavily fortified during the war. Sandbags were piled high around key buildings such as the town hall and machine gun nests were posted along the seafront.

It was feared the Germans could invade at any time and as a result the seafront was packed with defences. Bathers, even on the sunniest of days, could do no more than look at the beach which was surrounded by barbed wire and mines.

After capture from the battlefields of Europe, German prisoners of war were also transported to the city to work. Residents recall scores of POWs working to repair London Road.

But despite being in the midst of the most destructive war of all time, everyday life did continue.

The Evening Argus from the war years reported on all the goings-on from the frontline. However, the paper also made room for more mundane news and views from around Sussex.

On the same day the front page told of the heroics of the Royal Sussex Regiment at the battle of Monte Cassino, the paper also carried stories of the Bexhill Police Dance, changes to the bus time table at Easter and a report of Moulsecoomb Rovers hammering Rusthall Boys’ Club at football.

There were also pictures – black and white of course – of various weddings, charity events and prize giving ceremonies. Adverts promoted the latest cinema times, theatre shows and dance lessons.

The April 6, 1944 edition tells of Arabian Nights “in Technicolour” at the Roxy in Silverhill, The Prisoner of Zenda at the Ritz in Bexhill and Bob Hope and Betty Hutton in Let’s Face It at the Kinema in Norman Road, St Leonards.

A report from the same edition tells of a temporary ban on holidaymakers, given the fear of spies in the run-up to the D-Day invasion.

A story headlined ‘A New Zealander Looks at Brighton’ tells of man defying the ban.

It reads: “An Evening Argus reporter spotted him yesterday strolling along Western Road with the slow gait and wandering eye of a sightseer.

“He was a New Zealand airman, Sgt Frank Carrodus, of Hastings, Hawkes Bay, who being on leave had decided to look round Brighton.

“He said: ‘Directly I got here I knew I should like the place. It is so healthy and clean, and although the people are a little reserved at first it doesn’t take long to strike a friendly atmosphere.’”

He said he approved of the “homey” atmosphere in the pubs and dance halls.

He added: “Your corporation houses compare quite well with those state-owned back home, although of course the rows of houses joined together are strange to us. Down under, all houses are on a separate plot.”

The Second World War certainly tested Sussex and those who call the county home. But reading papers from the time shows a stiff upper lip which ensured the county and indeed the country was never broken.