In 1936 the "Sunderland Echo and Shipping Gazette" reported that multiple large stones had fallen from the monument and a fence had been erected around it—the fence was wooden and covered in barbed wire, and was still there in 1938. By July 1939 repair work was being carried out, and scaffolding was present around some of the monument's columns. It was not damaged during the Second World War, despite raids on Houghton-le-Spring during The Blitz. In 1942 it was struck by lightning; this caused damage to the top of the column containing the staircase. This damage—a hole at the top of the column and a fissure extending half its length—was still visible a decade later.