The Tragedy at Balham

[@adamcrofts58]

How awful to be trapped in such a place. It's a grim subject to tackle but as ever you presented the fact superbly. Thankyou

[@Larry]

Underground Tragedies migt be a good sub-series for the channel, The King's Cross wooden escelator one is one I can remember from my childhood.

[@JagoHazzard]

That’s one I want to cover. Bethnal Green is another.

[@brianparker663]

My bro-in-law was one of the three transport coppers at King's Cross when the fire started. He got a medal from her majesty for his work that day.

[@jameslees7103]

@@JagoHazzard Oxford Circus Fire as well

[@commonsense953]

Moorgate?

[@brianparker663]

@@commonsense953 I think Jago has done a vid on that one.

[@rjc83x]

Excellent video - I lived in Balham for many years and thought I knew pretty much everything about that awful tragedy, but thank you for proving me wrong, adding the missing details and telling the story in your unique and engaging fashion.

[@davidfleming5963]

I lived in Balham and remember the plaque there. Balham was a target as the German Luftwaffe could use Du Cane court as a reference. There was also a top secret communications center in a building off nightingale square.

[@dukenukem5768]

I doubt that was a factor. The vast majority of bombs dropped on London were at random. In fact Wimbledon Common seems to have been more heavily bombed than Balham ( bombsight.org ). If they were targeting something as small as a single building it would have been in a daylight raid.

[@chatteyj]

*centre

[@Aengus42]

My aunt lived in Streatham & Balham was the nearest Tube station. Although it wasn't close, the walk always reminded me of Reggie Perrin's walk to the station every morning. ("Sorry I'm late CJ, wildebeest on the line at London Bridge.") Balham Tube station has always been my mid seventies gateway to the metropolis! I didn't know about the bombing! That image of the slurry set hard blocking those steps down into the station really brought home just how awful this tragedy was. Those poor people. The dead and the men that had to dig them out. That job must've haunted them all their lives.

[@allenwilliams1306]

Bal-ham: gateway to the South.

[@Aengus42]

@@allenwilliams1306 That was always Basingstoke for me. As a small kid in St. Albans my Nan lived in Torbay. So during the interminable 12 hour drive (pre M5) I when I heard the magical name "Basingstoke" it meant the worst of the drive was over & it was A303, Stonehenge, more wonderful, pre dualled, pre bypasses A303 & then the beach!!So yeah, Basingstoke - Gateway to the Sun! 😎

[@TheClockwise770]

Likewise, my Aunt lived in Du Cane Court, the attractive art deco block of flats 150 metres away. I never knew this terrible disaster had happened here some 22 years earlier

[@robhorne3048]

I've seen this photo of the bus in the crater loads of time but never took the time to find out about it. Thank you. Another fantastic video.

[@simoncook9416]

Some interesting stuff - I notice you filmed very recently. I am the Station Manager responsible for Balham and was instrumental in having the plaque replaced in 2016 - something that led to similar plaques being placed at Bank, Sloane Square, etc. I hope you found the visit to the station helpful. There were a number of points missed - it's a shame you didn't contact us, as I could have given you a proper tour and shown you the impact point and other noticable things. Also further damage did occur when a V1 struck the Southern Staion, assisting to create , what is now, Sainsbury's car park.

[@JagoHazzard]

Alas, I was filming piecemeal whenever my Real World job brought me through the area/when I had time to walk to Balham, so there really wasn’t a lot of planning in the shots I could get. But very well done on the plaque, it’s a very tasteful piece.

[@mickontherock1]

Yet another interesting video and respectfully done on such an awful tragedy. We should never forget those that died and the awful circumstances in which they did. Thank you Jago, and well done.

[@dadskillz]

Brilliant video as ever, thanks Jago. I had a tragedy in Balham once involving the Tesco there and their toilets which were out of use. Fair to say It really hit the fan that day!!

[@vindicator2011]

...yep I have had s few of those

[@janettecumlin6564]

My mother lived there, she told me that for weeks afterwards she would stand at the bus stop on the way to work in Victoria, and there would be a policeman who would ask where everyone was going and stop the cars and just put the people in the cars to be taken nearer the city/ west end. No one had any say in it and you couldnt refuse. Thanks for the video.

[@sewing9434]

Thank you for the education, Mr. Hazzard. What a sad, terrible tragedy. You're doing yeoman's work in bringing these moments of history forward to new generations.

[@JagoHazzard]

Thanks!

[@elizabethspedding1975]

I had never heard of this accident before. Thank-you for telling me.

[@foamer443]

An act of war not an accident.

[@TransportwithDan]

I've have gone to Balham an uncountable amount of times, it is weird to think that only about 75 years ago it was like that

[@phobsdsr4326]

Yes, thinking I’m closing in on 40 and this was. Less than 40yrs before I was born. Not a very long time ago considering the level of damage that site dealt with, as well as many more across central London.

[@WillKemp]

I grew up in eastern Essex and only rarely went to London when I was a kid in the 60s, but I remember there were still several bomb sites around the west end, fenced off with corrugated iron - and no doubt there were plenty of others in other parts of London

[@WillKemp]

Then i found myself living in London in the late 70s and there were bombs going off around the place again - courtesy of the IRA this time

[@ianhelps3749]

@@WillKemp I remember in the Mile End Road in the 1980s, there were still several buildings with bomb damage to the top floors, while the ground floors were still in use as shops etc.

[@pastlife960]

I went to school about 100 metres from where this happened. The disaster was a big part of my primary school lessons on WW2 and the Blitz. I seem to remember that we were split up into groups and told to act out the bus crash, and that eight-year old me decided to play the driver with a very bad cockney accent.

[@cargy930]

So long as Dick Van Dyke's Mary Poppins performance exists, you have nothing to worry about!

[@bigblue6917]

@@cargy930 To be fair to Mr. Van Dyke he was not aware of what a cockney accent sounded like and apparently it is a difficult accent to imitate.

[@andybaker2456]

@@bigblue6917 He did have a voice coach to help him with the part, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that that voice coach was Irish! Millions of Londoners who probably would have been only too happy to help him out, but they decide to pick an Irish person instead. 🤷‍♂️

[@cargy930]

@@bigblue6917 I watched KZbin video recently where it was claimed that Mr VD said he was coached by one of the make-up girls. Unfortunately, said make up girl was Irish, had never set foot in London, and had no idea how to do the accent. As a result she just winged it. Nobody on the set thought to tell Dicky-boy just how bad it was either, and the rest is history!

[@OofusTwillip]

@@cargy930 When I read "VD" in your comment, I thought of something very different.

[@AtheistOrphan]

A video on the big metal flood doors and blast doors one often sees when navigating the tube would be quite interesting.

[@highpath4776]

The main flood doors are for the thames mainly, indeed that was a fear in WW2 that a bomb in the thames would knock out the bakerloo or northern thames tunnels

[@jimtuite3451]

Yes, the gates at Embankment station down at platform level are mightily impressive

[@Suprahampton]

As a London bus driver, i'm certain after the 88 driver had managed to get in touch with the Route controller he was told "carry on"

[@thefreedomguyuk]

Having been on a London bus, I'm sure this was pretty much an ordinary day at work. I've always thought I wouldn't last a day as a London driver.

[@lyndahennell]

Many thanks to you Jago, a well told story. My great uncle sadly died in this tragedy, so it is well known in our family. He was a porter and his body was found with a phone in his hand trying to summon extra help. I saw the original plaque when I was about 10 years old when my mother took me to Balham to see her uncle's memorial in the early sixties. I also did a short interview on Riverside Radio when they did a piece on the tragedy. I didn't know that it had been kept quiet for a few years though!!!

[@blackfriendlygiant]

Excellent video. Very well made and informative. Thank you. Please don't stop whag you're doing. Love this channel.

[@andrewclarkehomeimprovement]

Thank you for making this. Presented very appropriately. As you said, we're all familiar with the image of the bus in the crater. We can only imagine the terror those poor people on the platforms felt. Just one of the many horrors of war where ordinary people on all sides suffered.

[@PlanetoftheDeaf]

A heartrending story, well told. As an aside I'm really impressed that the station and line reopened only 3 months later, considering the massive damage

[@PeacefulSlumber]

Two of my favourite topics in one video! Thank you! I found this fascinating (despite the tragedy of the subject) 🤗

[@cjr6564]

Thanks for this video Jago. I never knew about the Balham disaster I only knew of the Bethnal Green Bomb so it was extremely informative. A very sobering and thoughtful video. My mother was injured in a V2 explosion at Belvedere so I have an understanding of the lasting memories these events cause.

[@AtheistOrphan]

The Bethnal Green disaster was not caused by a bomb, but by mass panic at anti-aircraft rockets being fired nearby. Which makes it even more tragic.

[@mikemidulster]

I knew about the flood, and first saw the upended bus photos in The World At War, made in 1972, but didn't realise the two were connected. There's something to learn in every video on this channel! The flood was used in the 2007 fantasy film Atonement.

[@pmberry]

I thought of the ending of Atonement too. A small plot point, and used to anchor it in reality, but powerful nonetheless.

[@j.martin9774]

used as in mentioned?

[@pmberry]

@@j.martin9774 Yes.

[@FreGZile]

In the movie the water looked a bit too clean compared to the reality that has been described

[@thewoodys3271]

The tragedy occurred mid-October and the station reopened mid-January, that's a remarkable turnaround time, during a tough period in London's history.

[@albertbatfinder5240]

It is amazing what can be achieved in desperate times. On the “other side” vast swathes of track and marshalling yards in the Ruhr were blown to smithereens by allied bombers, yet intelligence photos would show trains running just a few days later.

[@boohaka]

Thanks for revealing what was behind the quite iconic pictures of the bus that had fallen into the crater, I for one didn’t know that. I can’t imagine what it was like to live in those times. This was indeed tragic and you’ve treated it with great respect.

[@shaunwest3612]

Great video jago, a very sad and tragic story😞.

[@keepingitrealandtruthful.5081]

I worked at one time in neighbouring Tooting at one point and I never knew about this dispite having passed through Balham on a Monday to Friday basis. Thank you for this as I have learnt something today.

[@RobertBrown-ty7he]

A sad, but most interesting story...and very well told Jago.

[@JagoHazzard]

Thanks!

[@dylanlincoln856]

As a resident of Balham I really appreciate this video.

[@phobsdsr4326]

Great information here that I never knew. Tragic story and unbelievable level of damage. Someone got curious and was responsible for the death of themselves and many others. Very sad!

[@stevebluesbury6206]

Every picture tells a story, but sometimes the picture becomes iconic and sheds it’s story on the way. Thank you Jago for bringing back the story and being prepared to tell the harrowing facts.

[@paulinehedges5088]

Fascinating and informative as ever but what a very sad story. Thank you for giving us these videos.

[@SparkieGoth]

May their memories be a blessing. I had no idea about this. Good on you for bringing it to the attention of those who didn't know.

[@stevenflebbe]

Thank you for a very interesting account. It strikes me how the wars have created bits of Tube and railroad history of a sort that we, fortunately, have never had on our transit and transport systems here in the States. We've had tragic incidents and disasters...but nothing like 1,000 kg bombs!

[@ryandavis7593]

I have seen that photo of the bus numerous times and never thought about it much. I had no idea that it was this significant.

[@ShedTV]

Thank you for an informative film about an incredibly sad event. I've seen the iconic bus photograph many times and thought how frightening it must have been for those onboard, but I had no idea that such a tragedy had occurred below ground.

[@carlybishop6160]

Thanks for sharing this. I had never heard of this before. It is sad that these stories aren't so commonly known

[@Otacatapetl]

I was born in Balham, and though this happened before my birth, my elder brother took a photo of the bus-in-the-hole. Still got it somewhere... We lived in Upper Tooting and that whole area was on the bombing run for Clapham Junction where my dad worked, which was a huge target. My friends and I spent much of our childhoods playing on the many bombsites, which weren't fully cleared up till the 1960s. My brother used to tell me stories of the raids. There was an AA gun on a railway wagon, with a few wagons of ballast coupled to it, parked in a siding at Wandsworth Common. They'd listen to it going off at night: "Bang clang, clang, clang, clang..."

[@JagoHazzard]

Interesting, I have heard of that gun, but I didn’t know it was used there. It would make a lot of sense. Thanks!

[@annstewart4731]

You referred to Clapham South and showed a picture of Clapham Common. Very interesting as usual and something of which I knew nothing. Thank you.

[@JagoHazzard]

That shelter is on the Common, but it’s next to Clapham South.

[@derekcable]

I worked in the lift pool of the PSA (public service agency) in the late 80s early 90s working on the lifts which went down into the deep shelters @ Clapham South/Clapham North. Fascinating bit of engineering as they were below the northern line with at the time blocked of access to to tube platforms above.

[@highpath4776]

@@JagoHazzard yes the clapham common section is just off on the high road !!

[@crosstraindoublebay4637]

I lived in “The Gateway to the South” for a few years whilst living in London. Loved it. Saw the plaque, now I know.

[@Rusty_Gold85]

Thanks for enlightening me . I always knew of the U/Ground Stations but little of the cases of tragedy

[@laszlokaestner5766]

My grandmother would have been there in the shelter and reckoned that she would have been one of the ones killed as she normally slept in the worst affected area. Thankfully she was on duty that night with the ARP as she worked for the Home Office as a typist and they were encouraged to volunteer. Probably one of the few times when being on top of a building was safer than being under ground.

[@martinhumphrey624]

As a result my grandfather, John C Stevens, was set the task of putting in the replacement handrail in the little western entrance. It was his only work on transport networks, although he did some of the replacement windows at Parliament. He also did the window frames with the original glass at Hampton Court which remained until around the millennium. An amazing series of videos - many thanks.

[@BarryAllenMagic]

Truly horrendous. It must have given other people elsewhere in London at the time, great concern as to whether their tube station could realise a similar tragedy.

[@eattherich9215]

Quite. I have never liked the idea of going underground to be safe.

[@highpath4776]

@@eattherich9215 It looks like the doors would have held, the idea was less to shelter from a direct hit, but more from flying debris and bigger stuff nearby. The risk was seen as better than being at home - though most folk were encouraged to have shelters in their gardens I suppose the likes of Du Cane Court would have found that difficult.

[@bigblue6917]

I, like many people, have seen the photograph of the bus in the crater. But I was not aware of the rest of the tragic story. So I thank you for this additional information.

[@LeveyHere]

How interesting, thanks! It's morbidly interesting to see these events, especially since I'm not from the U.K.

[@phobsdsr4326]

I thought the image of the bus on 07/07/05 was bad. I’ve never seen these images till now. Almost impossible to imagine a day in London at the height of the war. Shocking stuff!

[@highpath4776]

there are more of trams that got hit, if you dont know about bethnal green as an incident that was worse, but star lane (?) school i think was the biggest london single place loss of life.

[@bluecardholder]

Many buses, trams and Trolleybuses were destroyed by bombing, or by V1 & V2 bombs resulting in high causalities.

[@phobsdsr4326]

bluecardholder it’s really bad, but still don’t believe we’ve seen the worst of humanity yet. Man causes destruction in the pursuit of power. 😤

[@thefreedomguyuk]

@@phobsdsr4326 No, we have not. But in 3 years, when the oncoming, bottomless depression really start to hurt most people, when TFL & NHS are making redundancies, and even civil servants being let go. Then we'll see what the human race is all about. It won't be pretty at all. And this will be the direct consequence of a few privileged leaders and their hunger for wealth and power. We had until now forgotten we are ruled by an oligarchy. Mr Hancock is a millionaire, so is Mr Johnson. And the Chancellor is on his own worth ten times as much. They are among the very few making millions on this scam they are running together.

[@phobsdsr4326]

Shane Warne 💯 And they are a cog in a big global wheel. However, after much suffering, the wheel will fall off and much injustice will be corrected, I just hope I survive the tsunami to see it happen. Stay wise, alert and be ready for anything. Never be deceived by the lunatics and be on the right side of history. That’s my aim and hope anyway.

[@timsully8958]

I lived in Trinity Crescent in the early 90s, which is further up the road towards Tooting. Although Tooting Bec was nearer, if I arrived by British Rail or needed to get some shopping I would get off at Balham and just walk the rest. Certainly a terrible story which I only learnt of from talking to an elderly neighbour, who took us under her wing a bit. She had lived in the area since the 1920s and I think her dad was involved in the rescue too cos he was a volunteer fireman or ARP warden or something. I rather liked the way the film “Atonement” incorporated the event into its storyline. In an unrelated incident, one evening in 1993 or 1994, after having alighted at Balham to do some shopping, my then girlfriend and I set about walking home. It was cold and we wondered about popping into the pub next to the station for a quick drink. However, thankfully my missus decided she’d rather open a bottle when we got in and we carried on walking under the bridge. It was only later we found out that within half an hour of passing the pub, some nutter had gone in and shot someone! 😳

[@theefishlippedone]

Brilliant. Very informative

[@JagoHazzard]

Thanks!

[@corinheathcote9868]

Sad subject, but well covered. Thanks

[@vespelian5769]

Nicely explained as ever. This was my local station from 1985-86. There are some dark spots and presences in London and on the Underground but I never felt anything untoward at Balham.

[@send2gl]

Wow, seen the images before, didnt realise the devastation, amazing that it was fixed so quickly during wartime.

[@dukeofaaghisle7324]

Thanks for producing an interesting video on this tragic subject. Another wartime tube story you might consider is Wanstead on the Central Line - apparently it was used as a munitions factory.

[@JagoHazzard]

That whole area of the Central Line is one I need to go into in detail, there’s a lot to talk about.

[@dukeofaaghisle7324]

@@JagoHazzard Newbury Park’s iconic bus shelter for one!

[@dukeofaaghisle7324]

If you do feature Wanstead, there’s another railway snippet just down the High Street in the corner of Grosvenor Road and Nightingale Road. It’s a church that used to be where St Pancras Station now stands, taken down stone-by-stone and reconstructed at its new home. In the process, it changed denomination. It’s rather special to me as the church where I married my lovely lady many years ago.

[@johncrwarner]

I have friends in Balham and when in London often stay there I had no idea of this incident Next time I am in Balham I will have a look for the memorial and take a photo.

[@cargy930]

At first I thought you were trying for a haiku or sonnet. Then I paid a visit to your channel and read of your interest and emulation of Lillian R. Lieber. All became clear: You're in on the conspiracy; the one created by SIE. Do not think we are fooled! :D:D:D

[@johncrwarner]

@@cargy930 I put the note on my channel page because so many people kept asking me why. Thank you for taking the time to visit it and comment. I find it helpful to write this way my other influence was the Italian free-verse poet Stefano Massini who I met through his verse play / novel "The Lehman Trilogy"

[@bigaspidistra]

The shelter provision for those without gardens to sink their own was a problem but the the options other than the Underground was either a reinforced table to hide under or the above ground communal shelters which if hit often ended up with the occupants being crushed by the concrete ceiling slab. No wonder the public took things into their own hands.

[@davethewanderer9887]

My Grandfather was the driver of the tram in front of the bus in the crater, her was at the top of the hill when his clippie told him what had happened behind them, as the feed was from Clapham South he was able to get to the inspector there and report what had happened. Very lucky that was twice the Germans had failed to kill him, in ww1 he was driving a empty ammunition wagon with 4 horses when a dud shell hit the wagon.

[@thefreedomguyuk]

Wow

[@janscattergood7294]

A significant part of history although sad. Very interesting. Thank you. x

[@jimtuite3451]

0.26 - love that photograph. I have visions of a Heinkel navigator with an A to Z in front of him shouting 'told you I'd find it!'

[@1963salvator]

No mention of one the heroes of the Balham tube disaster. John Rundle (64) was a member of the Salvation Army at Wimbledon Corps in London. He was the station master at Balham Underground station. On the night of 14 October 1940 about 700 people were on the platforms at Balham when a 1,400kg bomb fell on the high street fracturing the gas and water mains that lay above their heads. Thousands of gallons of water filled the station. One of the victims was John Rundle. Mr Rundle stayed on the phone calmly giving information to those responding to the emergency on the other side of the blocked tunnel. As the flood waters rose he must have known that he would not be rescued but his actions helped others to be saved.

[@johnhooper7040]

Tut tut, Jago describing the Northern line tube as the Underground! Especially as you had pointed out this common error in a previous video. Apart from that this was another fascinating 'tale from the tube'

[@mryeti1887]

I read The Splendid and the Vile over the summer which details the period of the blitz. I cannot begin to imagine what it was like. The book touched on a subject that I didn’t think about. You would endure bombing all night then still have to go to work in the morning. Your commute could be hours longer as roads might be blocked. Your house may not have any windows left or your roof leaked due to shrapnel tearing holes in the shingles. The mental and physical exhaustion had to be overwhelming. The one humorous part was that once the bombing started you had to shelter in place. Many a young couple would scurry off at dusk to meet their mate and well then you had to stay with them all night as it was required by law.

[@donovanchilvers8564]

Can you please do a video on bethernal Green also on the fire at Kings Cross?

[@JagoHazzard]

They’re on my list.

[@BarryAllenMagic]

It's Beffffnal Green! 😉

[@keepingitrealandtruthful.5081]

@@BarryAllenMagic 😂 It's got to be said with an accent.

[@vespadavidson2315]

Thank you.

[@robertfletcher3421]

Excellent, thank you!

[@pbsa1979]

Would be interesting to see a piece on "How flood defences on the London Underground work" Isn't it fascinating that these tunnels hardly ever get flooded?

[@CCA2020]

I love in Clapham South so this episode feels really special to me. Especially how Clapham South gets hardly any recognition

[@crossleydd42]

How brazen of you to tell us where you love, but where do you actually live???? You are so right in saying how Clapham South is a nonentity. I travelled the Northern Line daily from Tottenham Court Road to Morden for some years, and probably got on or off most up to Stockwell, but never CS. Don't even know what the entrance looks like!

[@AcornElectron]

Keep up the good work fella and stay safe.

[@andrewatherton316]

Of course I’d seen that iconic photo and I had ridden through that junction from all directions but I had not put the two together. This video has certainly cemented them firmly in my memory. When I am next on the Northern Line I’ll stop and seek out that plaque.

[@limeyosu2000]

Best But safest video to date! Bit this needed to be covered thank you for making this one.

[@MrGreatplum]

There’s always someone who wants to open that door :( What a sad tale. (By the way, your description says 1949 rather than 1940.)

[@JagoHazzard]

Thanks - I’ve changed that. This is why I shouldn’t upload late at night...

[@ilaser4064]

Was about to point out the same thing, seldom I'm one of the first on a video lol.

[@ilaser4064]

@@JagoHazzard oh that was quick! Great vids btw war and trains are right up my ally! ;)

[@MrGreatplum]

@@JagoHazzard - I’ve done the same before! (Not someone who opens the door when they shouldn’t!)

[@ashleyhamman]

You've talked about the Widened Lines recently, and now about WWII station damage. Might there be room to combine the two and talk about the history of Aldersgate/Barbican station? It's such a great example of a cut-and-cover station, and there's still bits of support from when it was covered by glass.

[@cargy930]

I always wished they could find the funds to recreate the original Barbican canopy. It can be done: When I lived in Bournemouth they rebuilt the long-missing staion canopy. It transformed the station.

[@shauntodd7123]

It sinks the heart to these stories.

[@rosenamarshall5502]

My grandmother and aunt were killed in this disaster . It took 6 weeks to recover their bodies . Margaret and grace Lyle , they came from Lambeth .

[@CyclingSteve]

I lived there for a while and remember the old very small plaque, good to see a more fitting memorial. As well as Bethnal green, Bank station was also hit destroying the main ticket hall, the blast wave travelled through the tunnels killing and injuring all the way down to platform level. More info: ww2today.com/11th-january-1941-51-killed-in-direct-hit-on-bank-station

[@eattherich9215]

Flicking through the RadioTimes for the coming week's broadcasts, there is a colour photograph of that Balham bus in the crater. It is used as a backdrop to Dr Lucy Worsley's 90 minute documentary on the 'Blitz spirit'.

[@ianhelps3749]

In Munich there was also an incident of a bus falling into a crater in the 1990s. During construction of the new U-bahn line to the Messestadt, the road above the tunnel collapsed. An approaching bus could not stop in time and fell into the hole. Sadly, three people were killed.

[@sharefail]

They should reserve some space in the station for photographs and information about the tragedy. Preferably at platform level.

[@MrVxrman]

A very good well researched video. Thanks for sharing 🙂🍻👍🏻

[@davidsheriff8989]

Tragic story of the times.....well researched and narrated as expected...

[@JagoHazzard]

Thanks!

[@JBB4118]

And yet ,Londoners kept on going day after day .Respect as always.

[@paulbennell3313]

"The station didn't open again until January." If it happened now the rebuild would take a couple of years! Progress...

[@atraindriver]

The one thing that's true of any war, anywhere in the world, is that day-in, day-out there are many, many ordinary people just trying to get on with their lives while mayhem erupts around them. Because... what else can they do?

[@DaraM73]

Lordship lane/Broadwater farm had a deep level shelter that took a direct hit, killing hundreds. Granted, it’s not a train line, but the wars worst civilian loss of life in London.

[@BibtheBoulder]

Thank you for posting such a poignant video. Tragedy of the highest order......

[@iankemp1131]

A salutary reminder of this sad event. As pointed out in other comments, a similar tragedy occurred at Bank and a smaller one at Bounds Green, as well as the Bethnal Green crush which is worth a video, especially with the "Stairway to Heaven" memorial. In general things were cleared up and lines reopened far faster in the war (and postwar) than now, when even minor incidents can close lines for hours or days because the police insist on treating it as a crime scene.

[@daveconyard8946]

Thank you Jago. looking forward to the next ,keep safe 👍

[@JamieBoy-ij2ri]

Either this or Bethnal Green tragedy.. one of my Great Nan’s friends and her daughter perished and my Nan who sadly died in the pandemic last year aged 91 remembered her mum telling her the heartbreaking news back all those years ago.

[@gugapenteado7834]

Very interesting, but also tragic. I had never heard about this incident. Amazing

[@Regnbuesolv]

Great video Mr Hazzard! Nearly at 100k, well deserved! Also, hate being that person, but in your video description the year was put down as 1949 as opposed to 1940. I blame modern keyboards being awkward.

[@JagoHazzard]

Thanks for pointing that out, I’ve corrected it.

[@Regnbuesolv]

@@JagoHazzard you're most welcome, Mr Hazzard! 😊

[@Supesfan88]

That photo of Churchill was in the main hall of my high school in Scarborough (Ontario, Canada). I learned there that he LOATHED that photo of himself. High School's name is Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute.

[@robertskrzynski2768]

When I did a an English course at the Tooting and Streatham Adult Education Institute in the late 60's our Teacher had been one of the People clearing up Balham Station after this event and because of the state of the bodies that were being recovered he lasted one and half shifts working there. To his knowledge nobody lasted a week although the pay was very high he told us he got paid £20-00 for 11 hours work.

[@66PHILB]

Excellent video. Just the right tone. BTW, how about a video on the wartime use by Plessey electronics of the unopened Leytonstone to Gants Hill section of the Central Line. An underground factory using the Underground? Sounds like a job for Jago!

[@JagoHazzard]

That whole length of the Eastern Central Line has a lot of potential, and as soon as I can, I’ll be over there.

[@shrikelet]

Very interesting. I do sometimes wonder if architects of more recent underground stations (both Underground stations and other metro systems) consider possible use as bomb shelters in the design phase (perhaps off the books, after a quiet visit from some humourless gentlemen from the ministry of defence or local equivalent).

[@BenCol]

I know stations on the Moscow Metro built during the Cold War were built so they could be used as bunkers in case World War III broke out. And some Berlin U-Bahn stations, such as Pankstrasse, had fallout shelter facilities. You can go on a tour of them - it’s quite fascinating, if a little disturbing.

[@shrikelet]

@@BenCol Fascinating. Thank you for sharing this information!

[@BenCol]

@@shrikelet No prob! Here’s an article that goes into more detail: www.vice.com/en/article/jmvzmd/berlins-suicide-proof-nuclear-fallout-shelters Of course, if you’re ever in Berlin, I highly recommend the tour. I went during a school trip 10 years ago and I still remember it vividly.

[@johnmh1000]

Another great vid - thank you. The question I keep on asking myself when I see this type of destruction is how on earth do you start to recover and rebuild from such wreckage? Also during wartime, surely labour and materials must have been in short supply?

[@maxel499]

Only now I realised all Jago's tales from the tube videos start with a tube arriving, and end with a tube departing. 🧐

[@Steamtramman719]

The distaff side is surely Peter Sellers and his "Bal-ham, Gateway to the South". The LT class bus, which had been evacuated, was eventually repaired.

[@robinfryer479]

The ‘Bus is a London Transport, (AEC) “LT” 6X4. You can see the inter-axle propeller-shaft, off-set to the left side (NS). I can’t quite discern whether the differential casing, on the leading axle, also incorporates an inter-axle differential. What I can say is, that I have heard eye witness observations that if they braked heavily, even I’d the rear bogie wheels all locked up, they hardly deviated (side-swiped) from straight ahead.

[@6yjjk]

4:06 If deliberate, that commentary with that ad is a stroke of twisted genius.

[@Bunter.948]

As to the Kings Cross fire, I believe that some research was done (by the Government's Fire Research Establishment) on the optimum angle for chimneys to improve the flow, and the Kings Cross escalator was exactly that! Simon T

[@JagoHazzard]

Interesting. I do plan to cover the Kings Cross fire at some point. I shall have to bear that in mind.

[@barron204]

The subs keep coming in. Loving these videos.

[@HHM706]

My Mum grew up in Balham and she was 6 when this tragedy, her Mother would never shelter in the tube station during raids, might of saved my Mums life🤷

[@pogglefishii6807]

Amazing testament to how the country was back then; utter devastation caused during the the greatest war the country had ever faced, and yet they still had the station and street cleaned up, repaired, and open again in just three months. Imagine if that sort of efficiency could be applied to today’s railway engineering projects.

[@atraindriver]

The unfortunate truth is that, were we in the same position today, we'd lose the war simply because there would be too many self-important, self-serving managers stopping anything from ever getting done. "My piece of paper says that you can't do that!" is unfortunately responsible for a horrendous amount of today's inefficiency.

[@highpath4776]

@@atraindriver much of the work would have been done by a mix of retired builders , arp, and italian pows (if there were any then)

[@atraindriver]

@@highpath4776 None of whom would be allowed anywhere near the works today, unless they could pull the wool over Der Manijumts' eyes. I've worked adjacent too many over the past few years, manijurs (can't call them managers, they generally couldn't manage to find their way out of a very short pipe) who would prefer to watch teh world end than to move even an inch out of their comfort zones or (heaven forfend!) actually Make A Decision. Hmm, given the era we're discussing, perhaps any such manijurs could be offered indelible pencils; it would be interested to see how long it took them to work out how to use them and then to watch them panic over "lead poisoning" and "blue tongue". ;)