I've heard a story about a tube station that was bombed during WWII causing a huge loss of life, instead of removing the victims the government just sealed of the disused station. Is this an urban myth or is it true? I would be really interested if anyone has any information on this topic.
Bombed Tube Station
- Thread starter hallybods
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The only station I know of that was bombed with a high loss of life was Balham. It wasn't closed up, in fact I passed through it this morning.
In fact it should be fairly easy to confirm this as a myth as the list of "ghost" stations on the underground is well known.
http://www.starfury.demon.co.uk/uground/ has some examples and links to related sites.
In fact it should be fairly easy to confirm this as a myth as the list of "ghost" stations on the underground is well known.
http://www.starfury.demon.co.uk/uground/ has some examples and links to related sites.
A
Anonymous
Guest
A myth I'm afraid.
Two stations were bombed during WW2 with heavy loss of life.
1. Balahm, as mentioned above. was bombed on 14th October 1940 with the result that the water main and sewer ran down to platform level flooding most of the platform level above roof level in places. 68 died.
2. Bank suffered a direct hit on 11th January 1941 with the bomb exploding in the concourse and the shock wave running down the escalator. 56 people died.
The worst disaster however wasn't caused by the enemy - at Bethnal Green happened an air raid alert was sounded causing a panic on the 3rd March 1943. A woman with a child slipped and fell at the foot of the escalator resulting in a horific crush. 173 people were killed as a result of suffocation.
There were several other fatalities - but in each case all bodies were respectfully removed.
Two stations were bombed during WW2 with heavy loss of life.
1. Balahm, as mentioned above. was bombed on 14th October 1940 with the result that the water main and sewer ran down to platform level flooding most of the platform level above roof level in places. 68 died.
2. Bank suffered a direct hit on 11th January 1941 with the bomb exploding in the concourse and the shock wave running down the escalator. 56 people died.
The worst disaster however wasn't caused by the enemy - at Bethnal Green happened an air raid alert was sounded causing a panic on the 3rd March 1943. A woman with a child slipped and fell at the foot of the escalator resulting in a horific crush. 173 people were killed as a result of suffocation.
There were several other fatalities - but in each case all bodies were respectfully removed.
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Sloane Square tube station was bombed in 1940, and I recently read an article about removal of the bodies, some of which were hanging from the roof girders. Unfortunately I can't remember where I read it, but it was horrible. The station wasn't rebuilt until 1951 so the damage must have been extensive, if not total.
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Slightly off the point perhaps, but still I think relevant to this discussion, I vaguely remember seeing some TV programme on Channel 4 at some Godforsaken hour like 4am, that featured this guy who had made a lifelong study of disused tunnels in London, many of which are still accessible if you know how. To demonstrate this he walked from somewhere like Camden to Brixton entirely underground (Ok I can't recall the exact details but it was some way), the trip involved passing through at least one disused tube station (a rather eerie, ghostly place). Anybody else remember anything about this?
A
Anonymous
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Tube Station
On http://www.starfury.demon.co.uk/uground/
there is information about a closed tube station in East London that was converted to an air raid shelter and suffered bomb damage in the war. Nothing about bodies being bricked up though - sounds like embellishment to scare the kiddies...
Here is the information
St. Mary's (Whitechapel Road)
(Also serving Hammersmith & City line)
This station was located between Aldgate East and Whitechapel, immediately preceding a branch which connects the East London Line to the District. Initially the station was used by trains on both lines but eventually became a District only station. The station was closed on 30th April 1938 after a decision was made to re-site the nearby Aldgate East station.
During the Second World War, the platform levels were bricked up for use as an air raid shelter and the surface building was severely damaged and subsequently demolished when hit by a bomb on 22nd October 1940. Therefore little evidence exists today of this station's existence, however the rooms created by bricking up the platform are still there and can still be accessed via an entrance at surface level.
On http://www.starfury.demon.co.uk/uground/
there is information about a closed tube station in East London that was converted to an air raid shelter and suffered bomb damage in the war. Nothing about bodies being bricked up though - sounds like embellishment to scare the kiddies...
Here is the information
St. Mary's (Whitechapel Road)
(Also serving Hammersmith & City line)
This station was located between Aldgate East and Whitechapel, immediately preceding a branch which connects the East London Line to the District. Initially the station was used by trains on both lines but eventually became a District only station. The station was closed on 30th April 1938 after a decision was made to re-site the nearby Aldgate East station.
During the Second World War, the platform levels were bricked up for use as an air raid shelter and the surface building was severely damaged and subsequently demolished when hit by a bomb on 22nd October 1940. Therefore little evidence exists today of this station's existence, however the rooms created by bricking up the platform are still there and can still be accessed via an entrance at surface level.
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Reminds me of Quatermass And The Pit. Also I remember something like this was featured in a letter to FT a while back. Does anyone know the title of the book that was mentioned in it?