Much of the storyline of In Loving Memory  concerns Balham Underground Station. Here are a few photos from 1940, many showing the damage done by the October 14th bomb, with many thanks to London Transport Museum Photo Collection.

Please click on the pictures below to enlarge them.

South entrance to Balham station, with anti-blast wall constructed of breeze blocks. Photographed by Topical Press, 14 Aug 1944

View of ticket hall showing two wooden passimeters and a ticket inspector's booth. A solitary ticket machine stands against the wall, midground left. The escalators can just be seen behind the passimeters. Photographed by Topical Press, 17 Nov 1934

Air raid damage at Balham Underground station. This view shows part of the enormous crater in the road caused by a bomb which penetrated the station tunnel, killing over 60 people; sections of tram track are visible among the debris. A number of soldiers, civil defence workers and civilians can be seen in the street. Photographed by Topical Press, 15 Oct 1940

Air raid damage at Balham Underground station. This view shows part of the huge crater in the road caused by the bomb which penetrated the station tunnel, killing over 60 people; LT-type bus, LT669, which fell into the crater, can be seen on the right. Sections of tram track are also visible among the debris. Workmen and others stand around  the rim of the crater. Photographed by Topical Press, 15 Oct 1940

Air raid damage at Balham Underground station. This is one of the station platforms two days after a bomb ruptured the tunnel at Balham Underground station on 14 October 1940. In the foreground, the platform is covered with glass and water. In the background, a pile of rubble partially blocks one of the subway entrances and has spilled onto the track. Four members of London Transport staff and 64 shelterers died, buried alive by the mass of ballast, sand and water that came through the hole in the tunnel ceiling. The blast blocked the exit, and the platform became submerged in the slimy mud from the burst mains and sewer pipes. However, many of the 600 sheltering in the Underground station that night were able to escape using the emergency hatch, thanks to the efforts of a London Transport motorman. This bomb attack was one of the worst single incidents of the war, happening on one of the nights of heaviest bombing since the Blitz began. It was three months before the line could be reopened. Photographed by Topical Press, 16 Oct 1940

Air raid damage at Balham Underground station. This shot is of the lower concourse after a bomb had penetrated the tunnel, killing over 60 people, mostly shelterers. Photographed by Topical Press, 16 Oct 1940

Air raid damage at Balham Underground station. This view shows a  cross-passage at the station, almost filled with rubble, caused by a bomb which penetrated the tunnel and killed over 60 people, mostly shelterers. Photographed by Topical Press, 16 Oct 1940

Air raid damage at Balham Underground station. This view is of the northbound platform, filled almost to the roof with rubble. The only features that can be recognised are a lightshade, a clock (stopped at 8.02pm, the time the bomb struck), and the upper part of the platform wall tiling (on right).

Air raid damage at Balham Underground station. This view shows debris on track and platform. Bedding materials or other fabric is piled on debris on platform. Photographed by Topical Press, 29 Oct 1940