Much of the storyline of In Loving Memory  concerns the October 14, 1940 bombing of   Balham Underground Station during the Blitz in World War 2.

Balham Underground Station was one of the many deep level tube stations where people sheltered during the Blitz in World War 2.

On the night of October 14, 1940, at 8.02 pm, a 1400 kg semi-armour piercing fragmentation bomb fell onto the road just above the northern end of the platform tunnels. It created a large crater, severing water and sewer lines, and the ceiling of the northbound tunnel below the road collapsed, creating an avalanche of water, earth and gravel that quickly buried and killed nearly 70 of the 600 people sheltering there, including several London Transport staff. A further 70 were injured.

The debris flowed down the platform and through the cross passages to the southbound side, although the damage was not as extensive as on the northbound side.

It was one of the worst disasters to happen in the UK during the Second World War.

This is a photo taken of the northbound platform at Balham Underground Station, looking north, after the ceiling collapsed.