Bus Trapped in the Crater at Balham Station

Image size: 1600 x 1156 pixel. 195 KB
Date: Monday, 14 October 1940
Place: London, England
Photographer: Unknown

On 14 October 1940 at 8.02pm, a 1400 kilo semi armour piercing bomb from Luftwaffe bombers penetrated 32 feet underground and exploded just above the cross passage between the two platforms at Balham Underground station, London. Above ground a No.88 London double decker bus, travelling in blackout conditions, plunged into the crater created by the bomb. The dramatic spectacle of the trapped bus was to become emblematic of the dangers of the Blitz, a series of pictures of it appeared in publications around the world. The water and gas mains, along with the sewage pipes, had been broken: water poured down, flooding the tunnels below, and gas hampered rescue efforts. Almost all of the casualties would have resulted from the blast and debris. Yet stories soon developed of trapped people drowning in the flood waters and of miraculous escapes by people swimming along the tunnels to the next station. In total sixty six people died, although over the years there has been confusion over the exact number and only recently Transport for London has agreed to revise the memorial plaque at the station. The recovery of bodies was to take almost until Christmas yet remarkably the damage was repaired and trains were running through the station on 8th January 1941, and the station itself reopened on the 19th January.




Source :
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3334514389935729&set=gm.1545682382283846
http://ww2today.com/14th-october-1940-disaster-at-balham-tube-station?fbclid=IwAR3glFnTFkJsTblkhY5a8a3B1xxHSjgn5OQT4QMp1jP5j0rdrcd6Xnz_kYA

Giraud and de Gaulle Shaking Hands at Casablanca Conference

Image size: 1600 x 1308 pixel. 666 KB
Date: Sunday, 24 January 1943
Place: Casablanca, Morocco
Artist: Lieutenant H.A. Mason

On 24 January 1943, the final day of Casablanca Conference, Morocco, the journalists assembled on the lawn behind Roosevelt’s villa. Four white chairs sat empty before the scrum of reporters. Shortly after noon, the door to the villa opened, and Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, and Henri Giraud walked out, while Franklin Roosevelt was carried to his chair. The whirling of film and clicking of cameras quickly replaced the murmurs of disbelief.

“When the Press reporters saw us both they could scarcely believe their eyes, or, when they were told we had been there for nearly a fortnight, their ears,” wrote Churchill.

Roosevelt and Churchill hoped to bring the competing factions of the French resistance together in Casablanca, but their attempt proved futile. There would be no headlines touting a new, unified French war effort. But photographs showing American, British, and French leaders together would galvanize Allied propaganda efforts. As Giraud, Roosevelt, and Churchill traded small talk and offered occasional smiles for the cameras, a solemn-faced de Gaulle smoked a cigarette. A photographer wanted more—something that didn’t smack of a command performance—and urged Giraud and de Gaulle to shake hands. The generals ignored the suggestion, until the president prodded them. “Why not shake hands?” said Roosevelt. “You two Frenchmen are loyal to your country, and that warrants a cordial handshake anytime.”

They stood, de Gaulle pulling the cigarette from his mouth and holding it to the side, and managed a fleeting handshake. Unable to capture the moment, the photographers called for them to do it again. The second shake was no less awkward. After Giraud and de Gaulle departed, Churchill moved over to sit by Roosevelt and talk further with the reporters and war correspondents gathered before them. Roosevelt began by reading a background statement and then spoke from some notes for about fifteen minutes.

Source :
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_en_France
https://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?family=editorial&phrase=giraud+de+gaulle
https://www.spiegel.de/geschichte/casablanca-film-mit-humphrey-bogart-und-ingrid-bergman-a-1170512.html
https://time.com/5101354/churchill-fdr-casablanca-photo/