Imagine heading down into an Underground station during an air raid, believing that the streets above were far more dangerous. Around you are hundreds of other people doing exactly the same thing. Families settled themselves on the platforms, waiting for another night of bombing to pass. Then, just after eight o’clock, there is an enormous explosion. In moments, the very place that was supposed to keep you safe starts to fill with water, mud and debris.
A double-decker bus lies in a bomb crater at Balham, South London, following an air raid in October 1940. Unknown photographer, UK Government / Ministry of Information Second World War Press Agency Print Collection. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
This was Balham Underground station on the evening of the 14th of October 1940.
I want to look at the Balham Underground disaster, one of the most terrible incidents to take place in London’s Tube network during the Second World War. It is also a reminder that, although Underground stations provided vital protection for thousands of Londoners during the Blitz, they could never be completely safe from a direct hit.
By October 1940, London had been dealing with weeks of almost nightly bombing. For many people, going to the underground had become part of their routine. Balham, on the Northern line in south London, was one of the deep-level stations being used as an air raid shelter, and hundreds of people were inside when the raid began that night.
At about 8.02pm, a large German bomb hit the road above the northern end of the station. The explosion ripped open the road and damaged the Underground tunnels. Water mains and sewers were ruptured, and the northbound platform tunnel partially collapsed.
What happened next must have been absolutely terrifying.
Water, earth, mud and debris began pouring down into the station. The mixture spread through the cross-passages towards the other platform, while frightened shelterers tried to escape through the darkness and confusion. People who had gone underground because it seemed safer than remaining on the streets suddenly found themselves desperately trying to get back to the surface.
Above ground, the explosion had left an enormous crater in Balham High Road. In the blackout, a double-decker bus was unable to avoid it and went into the crater. The extraordinary photographs taken afterwards, showing the bus almost disappearing into the shattered road, became some of the most recognisable images associated with the disaster.
More than 400 people managed to escape from the station and more than 70 were injured. Many of those who died were overwhelmed by the flooding and debris before they could reach safety.
The exact number of people who lost their lives has been recorded differently over the years. At least 64 people were killed, although some accounts give a slightly higher figure depending on whether railway staff and those who later died from their injuries are included. Perhaps that uncertainty itself tells us something about the chaos of that night.
The recovery operation was difficult and grim. Water had to be pumped from the tunnels and enormous amounts of mud and rubble removed before the damaged sections could be repaired. The destruction was so extensive that Balham station remained closed for months, eventually reopening in January 1941.
Today, when we look at photographs of Londoners sleeping on Underground platforms during the Blitz, it is easy to think of the Tube as an almost perfect refuge beneath the bombing above.
Balham reminds us that it was not.
Those families sheltering there had made what must have seemed the sensible choice. They had gone under the streets to protect themselves, surrounded by neighbours and strangers all waiting for the all-clear. None of them could have known that, on the 14th of October 1940, danger would reach them even there.
It is one of those wartime stories where the ordinary details make it particularly difficult to imagine. People settling down for the night. Children beside their parents. Bags and blankets on the platforms. A routine they had probably already experienced many times.
And then, in a matter of moments, everything changed.
Had you heard of the Balham Underground disaster before, or do you have family memories of sheltering in London’s Underground stations during the Blitz?
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