Ronnie Biggs Great Train Robbery 1963 Hand Signed Card With Message Drawing COA

Ronnie Biggs Great Train Robbery 1963 Hand Signed Card With Message & Drawing. From a collector of crime! A card measuring 3″x5″ signed/inscribed by Great Train Robber, prison escapee and fugitive Ronnie Biggs with Train drawing and authenticity from Global authentics. Ronald Arthur Biggs (8 August 1929 18 December 2013) was one of the men who planned and carried out the Great Train Robbery of 1963. He subsequently became notorious for his escape from prison in 1965, living as a fugitive for 36 years, and for his various publicity stunts while in exile. Biggs was released from prison on compassionate grounds in August 2009[2] and died in a nursing home in December 2013. Return to the United Kingdom. Biggs was born in Stockwell, Lambeth, London, on 8 August 1929. [1] As a child during the Second World War, he was evacuated to Flitwick, Bedfordshire, and then Cornwall. In 1947, at age 18, Biggs enlisted in the Royal Air Force. He was dishonorably discharged for desertion two years later, after breaking into a local chemist shop. One month after that, he was convicted of stealing a car and sentenced to prison. On his release, he took part in a failed robbery attempt of a bookmaker office in Lambeth, South London. During his incarceration in HMP Wandsworth, he met Bruce Reynolds. After his third prison sentence, Biggs tried to go straight and trained as a carpenter. In February 1960, he married 21-year-old Charmian (Brent) Powell in Swanage, [4] the daughter of a primary school headmaster. [4] They had three sons together. Main article: Great Train Robbery (1963). The driver has been variously identified as “Stan Agate”, or because of his age, “Old Pete” or “Pop”. His real name is unknown, since he was never caught. He was the one who introduced Biggs to the train robbery plot. [5] Reynolds gave Biggs the job of arranging for Agate to move the train after it had been waylaid. On the night of the hold up, Biggs told his wife he was off logging with Reynolds in Wiltshire. [6][7] Stan Agate was unable to operate the main line diesel-electric locomotive because he had only driven shunting locomotives on the Southern Region. [1] Biggs’ main task had been to get Agate to move the train and when it became obvious that the two were useless in that regard, they were banished to a waiting vehicle while the train was looted. After an accomplice failed to carry out his instructions to burn down Leatherslade Farm to destroy any evidence there, [1] Biggs’s fingerprints were found on a ketchup bottle by Metropolitan Police investigators. Three weeks later, he was arrested in South London, along with 11 other members of the gang. [1] In 1964, nine of the 15-strong gang, including Biggs, were jailed for the crime. Most received sentences of 30 years. Biggs served 15 months before escaping from Wandsworth Prison on 8 July 1965, scaling the wall with a rope ladder and dropping onto a waiting removal van. [6][11] He fled to Brussels by boat then sent a note to his wife to join him in Paris where he had acquired new identity papers and was undergoing plastic surgery. [1][7] During his time in prison, Charmian had started an extramarital relationship and was pregnant by the time of his escape to the Continent. [4] Choosing to support her husband, she had an illegal abortion in London and then travelled with their two sons to Paris to join Biggs. In 1966, Biggs fled to Sydney, where he lived for several months before moving to the seaside suburb of Glenelg in Adelaide, South Australia. In 1967, just after their third child was born, Biggs received an anonymous letter from Britain telling him that Interpol suspected that he was in Australia and that he should move. In May 1967, the family moved to Melbourne, where he rented a house in the suburb of Blackburn North while his wife Charmian and their three sons lived in Doncaster East. Biggs had a number of jobs in Melbourne before undertaking set construction work at the GTV Channel 9 Television City studios. In October 1969, a newspaper report by a Reuters correspondent revealed that Biggs was living in Melbourne and claimed that police were closing in on him. The story led the evening news bulletin at Channel 9 and Biggs fled his home, staying with family friends in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Five months later, he fled on a passenger liner from the Port of Melbourne, using the altered passport of a friend; his wife and sons remained in Australia. Following disclosure of Biggs’ fathering a child in Brazil, Charmian agreed to a divorce in 1974, which was completed in 1976. [4] Charmian later undertook a degree and became an editor, publisher and journalist. Her sonswho later visited Biggs a few times in Brazil live anonymously. In 2012 Charmian acted as a consultant on the five-part ITV Studios docu-drama Mrs Biggsin which she was played by actor Sheridan Smithwhich recounts the couple’s time from first meeting to Biggs’s flight to Brazil. In 1970, when Biggs arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil did not have an extradition treaty with the United Kingdom. [11] In 1971, Biggs’s eldest son, Nicholas, aged 10, died in a car crash[13] in Melbourne. In 1974, Daily Express reporter Colin MacKenzie received information suggesting that Biggs was in Rio de Janeiro; a team consisting of MacKenzie, photographer Bill Lovelace and reporter Michael O’Flaherty confirmed this and broke the story. Scotland Yard detective Jack Slipper arrived soon afterwards, but Biggs could not be extradited because his girlfriend, nightclub dancer Raimunda de Castro, was pregnant. Brazilian law at the time did not allow a parent of a Brazilian child to be extradited. During 1974, in Rio, Biggs, an avid jazz fan, collaborated with Bruce Henri (an American double bass player), Jaime Shields, and Aureo de Souza to record Mailbag Blues, a musical narrative of his life that he intended to use as a movie soundtrack. This album was left undiscovered until it was finally released in 2004 by whatmusic. In April 1977 Biggs attended an informal drinks party on board the Royal Navy frigate HMS Danae (F47), which was in Rio for a courtesy visit, but he was not arrested. [13] Though in Brazil he was safe from extradition, Biggs’s status as a known felon meant he could not work, visit bars or be away from home after 10:00 p. [17] To provide an income, Biggs’s family hosted barbecues at his home in Rio, where tourists could meet Biggs and hear him recount his involvement in the robbery, which, in fact, was minor. Biggs was even visited by former footballer Stanley Matthews, whom Biggs afterwards invited to his apartment after hearing that he was in Rio. We had tea on the small balcony at the rear of his home, and one of the first things he asked was,’How are Charlton Athletic doing? It turned out he had supported Charlton from being a small boy and had often seen me play at The Valley. “[18] Around this time, “Ronnie Biggs mugs, coffee cups and T-shirts also appeared throughout Rio. Biggs recorded vocals on two songs for The Great Rock’n’ Roll Swindle, Julien Temple’s film about the Sex Pistols. The basic tracks for “No One is Innocent” a. “The Biggest Blow (A Punk Prayer)”/”Cosh The Driver” and “Belsen Was a Gas” were recorded with guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook at a studio in Brazil shortly after the Sex Pistols’ final performance, with overdubs added in an English studio at a later date. “No One is Innocent” was released as a single in the UK on 30 June 1978 and reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. The sleeve showed a British actor dressed as Nazi leader Martin Bormann playing bass with the group. Biggs’s 70th birthday, 1999 (from left): Biggs, his son Michael, Nick Reynolds, and Nick’s father Bruce, the robbery mastermind. In March 1981, Biggs was kidnapped by a gang of British ex-soldiers. The boat they took him aboard suffered mechanical problems off Barbados, and the stranded kidnappers and Biggs were rescued by the Barbados coastguard and towed into port in Barbados. The kidnappers hoped to collect a reward from the British police; however, like Brazil, Barbados was found to have had no valid extradition treaty with the United Kingdom[19] (a fact which chess player David Levy claimed to have paid lawyers to unearth)[20] and Biggs was sent back to Brazil. [21] [22] In February 2006, Channel 4 aired a documentary featuring dramatisations of the attempted kidnapping and interviews with John Miller, the ex-British Army soldier who carried it out. The team was headed by security consultant Patrick King. In the documentary, King claimed that the kidnapping may have been a deniable operation. [23] The ITN reporter Desmond Hamill paid to accompany Biggs on the private Learjet returning him to Brazil and secured an exclusive interview as well as convincing Biggs to kiss the tarmac upon landing. [24] The kidnapping attempt was the subject of the film Prisoner of Rio (1988), which was co-written by Biggs. In the film Biggs was played by Paul Freeman. Biggs’s son by de Castro, Michael Biggs, eventually became a member of the children’s programme and music band Turma do Balão Mágico, bringing a new source of income to his father. In a short time, however, the band faded into obscurity and dissolved, leaving father and son in financial difficulty again. In 1991, Biggs sang vocals for the songs “Police on My Back” and “Carnival in Rio” by German punk band Die Toten Hosen. In 1993, Biggs sang on three tracks for the album Bajo Otra Bandera by Argentinian punk band Pilsen. In 1997 the UK and Brazil ratified an extradition treaty. Two months later, the UK Government made a formal request to the Brazilian government for Biggs’s extradition. Biggs had stated that he would no longer oppose extradition. [15] English lawyer Nigel Sangster QC travelled to Brazil to advise Biggs. The extradition request was rejected by the Brazilian Supreme Court, giving Biggs the right to live in Brazil for the rest of his life. In 2001 Biggs announced to The Sun newspaper that he would be willing to return to the UK. Having 28 years of his sentence left to serve, Biggs was aware that he would be detained upon arrival in Britain. In return for exclusive rights to the news story. Biggs arrived on 7 May 2001, whereupon he was immediately arrested and re-imprisoned. Biggs should serve his punishment. [31] Mills never fully recovered from his injuries sustained during the robbery. He died of an unrelated cause (leukaemia) in 1970. On 14 November 2001, Biggs petitioned Governor Hynd of HMP Belmarsh for early release on compassionate grounds based on his poor health. He had been treated four times at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich in less than six months. His health was deteriorating rapidly and he asked to be released into the care of his son for his remaining days. [34] The application was denied. On 10 August 2005, it was reported that Biggs had contracted MRSA. His representatives, seeking for his release on grounds of compassion, said that their client’s death was likely to be imminent. [35] On 26 October 2005, the Home Secretary Charles Clarke declined his appeal stating that his illness was not terminal. Home Office compassion policy is to release prisoners with three months left to live. [36] Biggs was claimed by his son Michael to need a tube for feeding and to have “difficulty” speaking. On 4 July 2007, Biggs was moved from Belmarsh Prison to Norwich Prison on compassionate grounds. I have accepted it and only want freedom to die with my family and not in jail. Straw decides to allow me to do that. I have been in jail for a long time and I want to die a free man. It has not been an easy ride over the years. Even in Brazil I was a prisoner of my own making. There is no honour to being known as a Great Train Robber. My life has been wasted. In January 2009, after a series of strokes that were said to have rendered him unable to speak or walk, it was claimed in the press that Biggs was to be released in August 2009 and would die a “free man”. [39] His son Michael had also claimed that the Parole Board might bring the release date forward to July 2009. On 13 February 2009, it was reported that Biggs had been taken to hospital from his cell at Norwich Prison, suffering from pneumonia. [40][41][42] This was confirmed the following day by his son Michael, who said Biggs had serious pneumonia but was stable. [43] News of his condition prompted fresh calls from Michael Biggs for his release on compassionate grounds. On 23 April the Parole Board recommended that Biggs be released on 4 July, [45] having served a third of his 30-year sentence. However, on 1 July Jack Straw did not accept the Parole Board’s recommendation and refused parole, stating that Biggs was’wholly unrepentant’. [2] On 28 July 2009, Biggs was readmitted to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital with pneumonia. His son Michael said, in one of his frequent news releases: It’s the worst he’s ever been. The doctors have just told me to rush there. On 30 July 2009, it was claimed by representatives of Biggs that he had been given “permission” to challenge the decision to refuse him parole. However, the Home Office stated only that an application for the early release on compassionate grounds of a prisoner at HMP Norwich had been received by the public protection casework section in the National Offender Management Service. [47] Biggs was released from custody on 6 August, two days before his 80th birthday, on’compassionate grounds’. Following his release from prison, Biggs’s health improved, leading to suggestions that he might soon be moved from hospital to a nursing home. [49] In response to claims that Biggs’s state of health had been faked, his lawyer stated, This man is going to die, there is going to be no Lazarus coming back from the dead, he is ill, he is seriously ill. “[49] However, Biggs himself stated, “I’ve got a bit of living to do yet. I might even surprise them all by lasting until Christmas, that would be fantastic. On 29 May 2010, Biggs was again admitted to hospital in London after complaining of chest pain. He underwent tests at Barnet Hospital. His son Michael stated, “he’s conscious but he’s in a lot of pain”. [50] In August 2010, it was claimed by the Sunday Mirror that Biggs would be attending a gala dinner where he would be collecting a lifetime achievement award for his services to crime. On 10 February 2011, Biggs was admitted to Barnet Hospital with another suspected stroke. His son Michael said he was conscious and preparing to have a CT scan and a series of other tests to determine what had happened. [52] On 17 November 2011, Biggs launched his new and updated autobiography, Ronnie Biggs: Odd Man Out The Last Straw, at Shoreditch House, London. [1] He was unable to speak and used a word board to communicate with the press. On 12 January 2012, ITV Studios announced it had commissioned a five-part drama, Mrs Biggs, to be based around the life of Biggs’s wife Charmian, played by Sheridan Smith and Biggs by Daniel Mays. Charmian Biggs acted as a consultant on the series and travelled to Britain from Australia to visit Biggs in February 2012, just before filming for Mrs Biggs. In March 2013, Biggs attended the funeral of fellow train robber, Bruce Reynolds. [56] In July 2013, The Great Train Robbery 50th Anniversary:19632013 was published, with input from Biggs and Reynolds. On 18 December 2013, aged 84, Biggs died at the Carlton Court Care Home in Barnet, north London, where he was being cared for. [57][58] His death coincidentally occurred hours before the first broadcast of a two-part BBC television series The Great Train Robbery, in which Biggs was portrayed by actor Jack Gordon. [59] Biggs’ body was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 3 January 2014. The coffin was covered with the Union Flag, the Flag of Brazil and a Charlton Athletic scarf. An honour guard of British Hells Angels escorted his hearse to the crematorium. [60] The Reverend Dave Tomlinson officiated at Biggs’ funeral, for which he drew public criticism; Tomlinson responded to critics by using the Bible verse “Judge not, that ye be not judged”. Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs has been granted release from his prison sentence on compassionate grounds, Justice Secretary Jack Straw has said. Biggs, 79, is severely ill in hospital with pneumonia and doctors have said there is “not much hope” for him. Mr Straw said the decision had been based on medical evidence that Biggs’s condition had deteriorated and he was not expected to recover. Biggs’s son Michael told the BBC he was “absolutely delighted” by the news. The 79-year-old was refused parole by Mr Straw last month. He rejected a recommendation by the Parole Board which said the risk Biggs posed was “manageable”. Lawyer for Biggs, Giovanni Di Stefano, described his release as a victory for common sense. The inmate of Norwich Prison, who was serving a 30-year sentence, was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in June suffering from a chest infection and was readmitted on Tuesday. I’m just very hopeful that my father… Can have a little bit of quality time with the family and die with some dignity. Biggs’s son Michael. How the robbery unfolded. Mr Straw said: The medical evidence clearly shows that Mr Biggs is very ill and that his condition has deteriorated recently, culminating in his readmission to hospital. His condition is not expected to improve. I have therefore been satisfied that the relevant conditions have been met, which I was not in respect of the recommendation for parole. Biggs’s son Michael said: Finally common sense has prevailed, you know, my father has done his time. He’s absolutely no threat to society whatsoever. My father is completely incapable of re-offending. He has rehabilitated himself inside and outside of prison. All I can say is we are extremely happy at the moment. I’m just very hopeful that my father can have another few months ahead of him in his life, or a few weeks, or whatever God decides to give him, so he can have a little bit of quality time with the family and die with some dignity. The judicial review of Mr Straw’s decision to reject the Parole Board’s recommendation will now be dropped, Mr Di Stefano said. In pictures: Life on the run. Who were the robbers? The decision means Biggs will spend his birthday as a free man, although his condition means he will be unable to celebrate his release. After a series of strokes, Biggs is bedridden, fed through a tube and barely able to communicate. The three Prison Service staff watching him will be withdrawn on Friday, once the licence for his release is finalised. If his condition were to improve, Biggs would be transferred to a nursing home in Barnet, north London, near his son’s home. Harry Fletcher, of the probation officers union Napo, welcomed the decision, but added: It’s just a great shame he wasn’t released two months ago on the recommendation of the Parole Board. His medical condition was pretty desperate two months ago – he couldn’t walk, he could barely talk and he posed no risk to anybody. However, the train drivers union Aslef criticised the decision to release Biggs. Ronnie Biggs was in his mid-30s when he went on the run. General secretary Keith Norman said: It’s ludicrous that a man who was part of a gang that committed a violent crime and attacked an innocent man and hit him with an iron bar should be a person who deserves clemency. The train’s driver Jack Mills suffered head injuries during the robbery. Biggs was given a 30-year sentence, but after 15 months he escaped from Wandsworth prison in south west London by climbing a 30ft wall and fleeing in a furniture van. He was on the run for more than 30 years, living in Australia and Brazil, before returning to the UK voluntarily in 2001 in search of medical treatment. He was sent to Belmarsh high-security prison on his return before being moved to a specialist medical unit at Norwich prison. A Ministry of Justice spokesman says Biggs’s licence conditions had to be officially signed-off before he is officially “released”. That is expected to happen some time on Friday morning. After tampering with the lineside signals in order to bring the train to a halt, a gang of fifteen, led by Bruce Reynolds, attacked the train. Other gang members included Gordon Goody, Buster Edwards, Charlie Wilson, Roy James, John Daly, Jimmy White, Ronnie Biggs, Tommy Wisbey, Jim Hussey, Bob Welch and Roger Cordrey, as well as three men known only as numbers “1”, “2” and “3”. A 16th man, an unnamed retired train driver, was also present. Though the gang did not use any firearms, Jack Mills, the train driver, was beaten over the head with a metal bar. Mills’ injuries were severe enough to end his career. After the robbery, the gang hid at Leatherslade Farm. After the police found this hideout, incriminating evidence led to the eventual arrest and conviction of most of the gang. The ringleaders were sentenced to 30 years in jail. Getaway and planned clean-up. Charles Frederick (Charlie) Wilson. Discovery at Leatherslade Farm. Tommy Butler, the thief-taker. Fate of the robbers. The ones who got away. Fate of the victims. Biographies of the robbers. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: “Great Train Robbery” 1963 news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message). McKenna was introduced to two of the criminals who would carry out the raidGordon Goody and Buster Edwardsby a London solicitor’s clerk, Brian Field. McKenna’s name was kept secret, and he was known to the robbers only as “The Ulsterman”. The raid was devised over a period of months by a core team: Goody and Edwards along with Bruce Reynolds, Charlie Wilson, and Roy James, with Reynolds assuming the role of “mastermind”. This gang, although very successful in the criminal underworld, had virtually no experience in stopping and robbing trains, so it was agreed to enlist the help of another London gang called The South Coast Raiders. This group included Tommy Wisbey, Bob Welch, and Jim Hussey, who were already accomplished train robbers[citation needed]. This group also included Roger Cordrey, a man who was a specialist in this field and knew how to rig the track-side signals to stop the train. Other associates (including Ronnie Biggs, a man Reynolds had previously met in jail) were added as the organisation evolved. The final gang who took part in the raid comprised a total of 16 men. At 18:50 on Wednesday 7 August 1963, the travelling post office (TPO) “Up Special” train set off from Glasgow Central station en route to Euston Station in London. It was scheduled to arrive at Euston at 03:59 the following morning. The train was hauled by English Electric Type 4 (later Class 40) diesel-electric locomotive D326 (later 40 126). One of the carriages involved in the robbery is preserved at the Nene Valley Railway. In 1960, the Post Office Investigation Branch (IB) recommended the fitting of alarms to all Travelling Post Offices with HVP carriages. This recommendation was implemented in 1961, but HVP carriages without alarms were retained in reserve. By August 1963, three HVP carriages were equipped with alarms, bars over the windows and bolts and catches on the doors, but at the time of the robbery, these carriages were out of service, so a reserve carriage (M30204M) without those features had to be used. The fitting of radios was also considered, but they were deemed to be too expensive, and the measure was not implemented. [7] This carriage was kept for evidence for seven years following the event and then burned at a scrapyard in Norfolk in the presence of police and post office officials to deter any souvenir hunters. Just after 03:00 on 8 August, the driver, 58-year old Jack Mills from Crewe, stopped the train on the West Coast Main Line at a red signal light at Sears Crossing, Ledburn, between Leighton Buzzard and Cheddington. The signal had been tampered with by the robbers: they had covered the green light and connected a battery to power the red light. The locomotive’s second crew member, known as the secondman or “fireman”, was 26-year-old David Whitby, also from Crewe. As a signal stop was unexpected at this time and place, Whitby climbed down from the cab to call the signalman from a line-side telephone, only to find the cables had been cut. Meanwhile, gang members entered the engine cabin from both sides, and as Mills grappled with one robber he was struck from behind by another with a cosh and rendered semi-conscious. One of the robbers had spent months befriending railway staff and familiarising himself with the layout and operation of trains and carriages. On the night, the gang’s hired train driver (an acquaintance of Ronnie Biggs, later referred to as “Stan Agate” or “Peter”) was unable to operate this newer type of locomotive; although having driven trains for many years (by then retired), he was experienced only on shunting (switching) locomotives on the Southern Region. With no other alternative available to them, it was quickly decided that Mills would have to move the train to the stopping point near the bridge, which was indicated by a white sheet stretched between poles on the track. The train was stopped at Bridego Bridge, and the robbers’ “assault force” attacked the high value packages (HVP) carriage. Frank Dewhurst was in charge of the three other postal workers (Leslie Penn, Joseph Ware and John O’Connor) in the HVP carriage. Thomas Kett, assistant inspector in charge of the train from Carlisle to Euston was also in the carriage. Dewhurst and Kett were hit with coshes when they made a vain attempt to prevent the robbers’ storming of the carriage. Once the robbers had entered the carriage, the staff could put up no effective resistance and there was no police officer or security guard on board to assist them. The staff were made to lie face down on the floor in a corner of the carriage. Mills and Whitby were then brought into the carriage, handcuffed together and put down beside the staff. The robbers removed all but eight of the 128 sacks from the HVP carriage, which they transferred in about 1520 minutes to the waiting truck by forming a human chain. The gang departed some 30 minutes after the robbery had begun in their Austin Loadstar truck and, in an effort to mislead any potential witnesses, they used two Land Rover vehicles, both of which had the registration plates BMG 757A. Map of some places connected to the robbery. The gang then headed along minor roads, listening for police broadcasts on a VHF radio, the journey taking somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour, and arrived back at Leatherslade Farm at around 04:30, at around the same time as the first reports of the crime were being made. Leatherslade was a run-down farm 27 miles (43 km) from the crime scene, between Oakley and Brill (51°4823N 1°311W). It had been bought two months earlier as their hideout. From listening to their police-tuned radio, the gang learned that the police had calculated they had gone to ground within a 30-mile radius of the crime scene rather than dispersing with their haul. This declaration was based on information given by a witness at the crime scene who stated that a gang member had told the post office workers “not to move for half an hour”. The press interpreted this information as a 30-mile (48 km) radiusa half-hour drive in a fast car. The gang realised the police were using a “dragnet tactic”, and with help from the public, would probably discover the farm much sooner than had been originally anticipated. As a result, the plan for leaving the farm was brought forward to Friday from Sunday (the crime was committed on Thursday). The vehicles they had driven to the farm could no longer be used because they had been seen by the train staff. Bruce Reynolds and John Daly picked up cars, one for Jimmy White and the other for Reynolds, Daly, Biggs and the replacement train driver. Field, his wife Karin and his associate “Mark” brought the vans and drove the remainder of the gang to the Fields’s home to recover. Field had arranged with “Mark” to carry out a comprehensive clean-up and set fire to the farm after the robbers had left, even though the robbers had already spent much time wiping the place down to be free of prints. However, on Monday, when Charlie Wilson rang Brian Field to check whether the farm had been cleaned, he did not believe Field’s assurances. He called a meeting with Edwards, Reynolds, Daly and James and they agreed that they needed to be sure. They called Field to a meeting on Tuesday, where he was forced to admit that he had failed to “torch” the farm. In the IVS 2012 documentary film The Great Train Robbery, Nick Reynolds (son of Bruce Reynolds) said… The guy who was paid to basically go back to the farm and burn it down did a runner. [10] Wilson would have killed Field there and then but was restrained by the others. By the time they were ready to go back to the farm, however, they learned that police had found the hide-out. View towards’Sears Crossing’ where the robbers took control of the train 51°5323N 0°4023W. There is some uncertainty regarding the exact cash total stolen from the train. Because a 30-minute time limit had been set by Reynolds, eight out of 128 bags were not stolen and were left behind. [11] It is alleged that the total weight of the bags removed was 2.5 long tons (2.5 t), according to former Buckinghamshire police officer John Woolley. The robbers had cut all the telephone lines in the vicinity, but one of the rail-men left on the train at Sears Crossing caught a passing goods train to Cheddington, where he raised the alarm at around 04:20. The first reports of the robbery were broadcast on the VHF police radio within a few minutes and this is where the gang heard the line A robbery has been committed and you’ll never believe it they’ve stolen the train! The gang consisted of 17 full members who were to receive an equal share, including the men who were at the robbery and two key informants. The gang that carried out the robbery consisted of 15 criminals predominantly from south London: Gordon Goody, Charlie Wilson, Buster Edwards, Bruce Reynolds, Roy James, John Daly, Roger Cordrey, Jimmy White, Bob Welch, Tommy Wisbey, Jim Hussey, Ronnie Biggs, as well as Harry Smith and Danny Pembroke, who were never charged due to the lack of evidence against them, and one still unknown, plus the train driver they nicknamed “Pop”. The best known member of the gang, Biggs, had only a minor roleto recruit the train driver. Following the death of Wisbey in December 2016, Bobby Welch is the last surviving member of the gang. Great Train Robbers[11][14]. Role in the Gang. 7 September 1931[15]. 28 February 2013[15]. Leader of the gang. Leader of the South West Gang. 11 March 1930[16]. 29 January 2016[17]. Member of the South West Gang. 30 June 1932[16]. 23 April 1990 (shot)[18]. 22 August 1963; 24 January 1968 (Recaptured). 12 August 1964 (Escaped); 15 September 1978 (Last one released). 27 January 1931[16]. 28 November 1994 (possibly suicide). 19 September 1966 (Voluntary). April 1975 (9 years). 15 December 1934[16]. 27 April 1979 (car crash)[19]. Solicitor’s clerk and organised the defence of Gordon Goody and Buster Edwards in previous court cases. Possibly Patrick McKenna[20]. Key informant and organiser. Contact with Gordon Goody and Buster Edwards arranged through another man who contacted Brian Field. 30 August 1935[16]. 21 August 1997[16][21]. Getaway driver and carriage uncoupler. 6 June 1931[16]. April 2013[22][23]. Train stopper and getaway driver. Brother in law of Reynolds and associate of South West Gang. N/A Acquitted 14 Feb 1964. Associate of South West Gang. 21 February 1920[16]. Date of death unknown[16][24]. Quartermaster and carriage uncoupler. Generally solitary thief who knew Reynolds. Associate of Jimmy White. 30 May 1921[16]. Train stopper and electronics expert. Leader of the South Coast Raiders. 12 March 1929[16][26]. 27 April 1930[16]. 30 December 2016[13]. 8 April 1933[16]. 12 November 2012 (died in a hospice)[27]. 8 August 1929[16]. Contact for replacement train driver. 4 September 1963; Voluntary return to UK jurisdiction 7 May 2001. Escaped 8 July 1965; Released 7 Aug 2009 (Served 3,875 days; 10 years 10 months). “Stan Agate”, “Pete”, “Pop”. Replacement train driver (failed). Bruce Richard Reynolds was born on 7 September 1931 at Charing Cross Hospital, Strand, London, to Thomas Richard and Dorothy Margaret (née Keen). His mother died in 1935, and he had trouble living with his father and stepmother, so he often stayed with one or other of his grandmothers. Reynolds was jailed for three years on several counts of breaking and entering, and upon his release quickly started re-offending. He soon joined a gang with best friend John Daly (future brother-in-law). They were mentored by South Western gang leaders Ernie Watts and Terry Hogan a. Also he did some criminal? Work with Jimmy White and met Buster Edwards at Charlie Richardson’s club. Richardson in turn introduced him to Gordon Goody. After the train heist, Reynolds escaped to Mexico with his wife, Angela, and young son, Nick Reynolds (who later became a member of the band Alabama 3, whose song “Woke Up This Morning” was the opening theme of The Sopranos[28]) and lived lavishly with his share of the take, approximately 150,000 British pounds. He was arrested in 1968 in Torquay[28] and sentenced to 25 years in jail. He was released a decade later. Reynolds was reincarcerated in the mid-1980s for dealing amphetamines. [28] He has produced occasional journalism pieces, been a consultant on movie and book projects about the train heist, and published a well-regarded crime memoir, Crossing the Line: The Autobiography of a Thief (1995). In a 2003 interview, Reynolds recalled: from an early age I always wanted a life of adventure. While his life in crime did provide excitement, Reynolds said in 2003, I’ve always felt that I can’t escape my past. And in many ways I feel that it is like a line from the’Ancient Mariner’ and that the notoriety was like an albatross around my neck. Reynolds died aged 81 on 28 February 2013 after a brief illness. [28][29] He is survived by his son Nick. This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Authorities regarded Douglas Gordon Goody as the mastermind of the operation. [31] He first made contact with’The Ulsterman’ in a meeting set up by Brian Field in Finsbury Park. Of Northern Irish descent, Goody was born in Putney, London in March 1930 and was still living there in his mother’s flat at the time of the robbery. In the early 1960s he joined Buster Edwards’ gang and helped rob various easy targets. After his release from prison in 1975, Goody moved to the white-washed town of Mojácar in Almería, Spain, where he ran the Chiringuito Kon Tiki beachfront bar. In September 2014, Goody revealed the identity of’The Ulsterman’ as Patrick McKenna for the first time. Revealing of the name coincided with a documentary marking the 50th anniversary of the robbery. [31] The documentary makers employed Ariel Bruce (a social worker who finds missing family members) to trace Patrick McKenna, who was found to have died some years previously. However Bruce was able to make contact with McKenna’s family. This documentary was shown in cinemas and on demand in October 2014. On 29 January 2016, Goody died of emphysema at the age of 85. The most dangerous of the Great Train Robbers was’the Silent Man’ Charlie Wilson. He was born on 30 June 1932 to Bill and Mabel Wilson in Battersea. His friends from childhood were Jimmy Hussey, Tommy Wisbey, Bruce Reynolds and Gordon Goody. Later on, he met Ronald’Buster’ Edwards and the young driving enthusiasts Mickey Ball and Roy James, who had taken up car theft. From 1948 to 1950 he was called up for national service, and in 1955 he married Patricia (Pat) Osbourne, with whom he had three children. He turned to crime early in life and spurned his father’s legitimate but low-income wage. He went to jail for short spells for numerous offences. In 1960, he began to work with Bruce Reynolds and planned to get into the criminal big league. Ronald Christopher Edwards was born on 27 January 1932 at Lambeth, London, the son of a barman. [35] After leaving school, he worked in a sausage factory, where he began his criminal career by stealing meat to sell on the post-war black market. During his national service in the RAF he was detained for stealing cigarettes. He married June Rose in 1952. They had a daughter, Nicky. [36] In his final years he ran a flower stall outside Waterloo station in London. Brian Arthur Field was born on 15 December 1934 and was immediately put up for adoption. He served two years in the Royal Army Service Corps, seeing service during the Korean War. Although soldiers in the Service Corps were considered combat personnel, they were primarily associated with transport and logistics. When he was discharged from the military, it was with “a very good character”. Field later became a solicitor’s managing clerk for John Wheater & Co. Although he was only 28 at the time of the robbery, he was already apparently more prosperous than his boss, John Wheater. Field drove a new Jaguar and had a house, “Kabri” (an amalgam of Karin and Brian [Field]), with his wife at the Bridle Path, Whitchurch Hill, Oxfordshire, while his boss owned a battered Ford and lived in a run-down neighbourhood. Part of the reason for Field’s prosperity was that he was not averse to giving Goody and Edwards information about what his clients had in their country houses, making them prime targets for the thieves. [11] On one occasion he described the contents and layout of a house near Weybridge where wife Karin had once been a nanny. Prior to the robbery Field had represented Buster Edwards and Gordon Goody. He had arranged Edwards’ defence when he had been caught with a stolen car and had met Goody at a nightclub in Soho. Field was called upon to assist in Goody’s defence in the aftermath of the “Airport Job”, which was a robbery carried out on 27 November 1962 at BOAC Comet House, Hatton Cross, London Airport. This was the big practice robbery that the South West Gang had done before the Great Train Robbery. [11] Field was successful in arranging bail for Goody and Charlie Wilson. In 2014, Douglas Gordon Goody revealed to journalists the name of “The Ulsterman” as Patrick McKenna, a 43-year-old postal worker living in Salford, Lancashire at the time of the robbery. McKenna, who was from Belfast, met Goody four times in 1963. Goody alleges he only found out McKenna’s name when he saw it written inside his spectacles case. It is not known what became of the share McKenna received but his children were “flabbergasted” upon hearing of their father’s involvement. William Gerald Boal (22 October 1913 26 June 1970), an accomplice after the fact of Roger Cordrey, was convicted as being one of the robbers, despite playing a role no different from the many other accomplices of the various train robbers. Boal died in jail. [39][dead link][40]unreliable source? Lennie was allowed to think that the plan was to hijack a lorry load of cigarettes. [42] Despite not being in on the robbery, he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years (20 years for conspiracy to rob and 5 years for obstructing justice), which was later reduced to five. He was released from jail in 1967 and went to live in north London. John Denby Wheater (born 17 December 1921, [43] died 18 July 1985[44]) was the employer of Brian Field. He was convicted and sentenced to 3 years. He died in Harrogate, near Leeds aged 63 years old. He then went to Cheddington railway station, where the train had been taken, and where statements were taken from the driver and postal workers. [45] A member of the gang had told the postal staff not to move for half an hour and this suggested to the police that their hide-out could not be more than 30 miles (48 km) away. [10] It appeared, from interviews with the witnesses, that about 15 hooded men dressed in blue boiler suits had been involved, but little more could be gleaned. By lunchtime of the following day, it became obvious to Fewtrell that extra resources were needed to cope with the scale of the investigation and the Buckinghamshire Chief Constable referred the case to Scotland Yard. George Hatherill, Commander of the C Department and Detective Chief Superintendent Earnest (Ernie) Millen, Head of the Flying Squad were initially in charge of the London side of the investigation. They sent Detective Superintendent Gerald McArthur and Detective Sergeant John Pritchard to assist the Buckinghamshire Police. The police then undertook a major search, fanning out from the crime scene after having failed to find any forensic evidence there. A watch was put on the seaports. Following a tip-off from a herdsman who used a field adjacent to Leatherslade Farm, a police sergeant and constable called there on 13 August 1963, five days after the robbery. [46] The farm was deserted but they found the truck used by the robbers, which had been hastily painted yellow, as well as the Land Rovers. Despite the big breakthrough of the discovery of Leatherslade Farm, the investigation was not going well. The London side of the investigation then continued under Detective Chief Superintendent Tommy Butler, who replaced Ernest (Ernie) Millen as head of the Flying Squad shortly after Millen was promoted to Deputy Commander under George Hatherill. On Monday 12 August 1963, Butler was appointed to head the police investigation of the London connection and quickly formed a six-man Train Robbery Squad. With Leatherslade Farm finally found on 13 August 1963, the day after Tommy Butler was appointed to head the London investigation, the Train Robbery Squad descended on the farm. The key breakthrough was when Detective Chief Superintendent Millen met a distinguished barrister in a smoking room of an exclusive West End club who stated that someone was willing to inform on the gang. [47] The process of talking to the informer was handled by Hatherill and Millen themselves, and they never divulged the identity of the informer to the detectives in their command. The informant had just been jailed in a provincial jail before the train robbery, and was hoping to get parole and other favorable outcomes from talking. He clearly did not know all the names perfectly, and a second informant (a woman) was able to fill in the gaps. Millen stated in his book “Specialist in Crime”,’the break-through with the informer came at a moment when I and my colleagues at the Yard were in a state of frustration almost approaching despair’. [48] This process saw them get 18 names to be passed on to detectives to match up with the list being prepared from fingerprints collected at Leatherslade. Unfortunately, the decision to publish photos of the wanted suspects had already been made by Hatherill and Millen, despite strong protests from Tommy Butler and Frank Williams. This resulted in most of the robbers going to ground. Tommy Butler was a shrewd choice to take over the Flying Squad and in particular the Train Robbery Squad. He became arguably the most renowned head of the Flying Squad in its history. He was known variously as “Mr Flying Squad”, as “One-day Tommy” for the speed with which he apprehended criminals and as the “Grey Fox” for his shrewdness. He was Scotland Yard’s most formidable thief-taker and, as an unmarried man who still lived with his mother, he had a fanatical dedication to the job. Butler worked long hours and expected all members of the squad to do the same. The squad later had to work out rotations whereby one member would go home to rest as otherwise they were getting only three hours of sleep per night and had no time to eat healthily or see their families. Butler was said to be very secretive, with Jack Slipper claiming in his book Slipper of the Yard (1981) that “he wouldn’t even tell his own left hand what the right one was doing”. This meant that Train Robbery Squad members were often dispatched on specific errands with no knowledge of how their tasks fitted into the overall investigation. The six-man Train Robbery Squad consisted of Detective Inspector Frank Williams, Detective Sergeant Steve Moore, Detective Sergeant Jack Slipper, Detective Sergeant Jim Nevill, Detective Sergeant Lou Van Dyck and Detective Constable Tommy Thorburn. The senior officer, Frank Williams, was a quiet man. His speciality was dealing with informants and he had the best working knowledge of the south London criminal fraternity in the force. One of the squad, Jack Slipper, would later become head of the Flying Squad and would still be involved in the case many years later. Deficiencies in High Value Package carriage security were reported and secure carriages were immediately brought back into service. The installation of radios was recommended as a priority. The investigation was detailed in a report by Assistant Controller Richard Yates that was issued in May 1964. The first gang member to be caught was Roger Cordrey. They were living in a rented, fully furnished flat above a florist’s shop in Wimborne Road, Moordown, Bournemouth. The Bournemouth police were tipped off by police widow Ethel Clark when Boal and Cordrey paid rent for a garage (in Tweedale Road off Castle Lane West) three months in advance, all in used ten-shilling notes. William Boal, who was not involved in the robbery, was sentenced to 24 years and died in prison in 1970. Police later acknowledged that he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice. Eight of the gang members and several associates were caught. The other arrests were made by Sgt. Stan Davis and Probationary Constable Gordon’Charlie’ Case. They also found a camel-skin bag with a receipt inside, from the Cafe Pension Restaurant, Sonnenbichel, Hindelang, Prov. It was made out in favour of a Herr and Frau Field. They quickly confirmed through Interpol that Brian and Karin Field had stayed at the Pension Sonnebichel in February that year. In addition, they knew that Field had acted for Gordon Goody and other criminals. Several weeks later, the police went to “Kabri” to interview Field, who calmly (for someone whose relatives had dumped a large part at least of the loot) provided a cover story that implicated Lennie Field as the purchaser of the farm and his boss John Wheater as the conveyancer. He admitted to visiting the farm on one occasion with Lennie Field, but said he assumed it was an investment of his brother Alexander Field, whom Brian Field had unsuccessfully defended in a recent court case. Field, not knowing the police had found a receipt, readily confirmed that he and his wife had been to Germany on a holiday and gave them the details of the place at which they had stayed. On 15 September 1963 Brian Field was arrested and his boss John Wheater was arrested two days later. Lennie Field had already been arrested on 14 September. Jack Slipper was involved in the capture of Roy James, Ronald Biggs, Jimmy Hussey and John Daly. The trial of the robbers began at Aylesbury Assizes, Buckinghamshire, on 20 January 1964. Because it would be necessary to accommodate a large number of lawyers and journalists, the existing court was deemed too small and so the offices of Aylesbury Rural District Council were specially converted for the event. The defendants were brought to the court each day from Aylesbury Prison in a compartmentalised van, out of view of the large crowd of spectators. Mr Justice Edmund Davies presided over the trial, which lasted 51 days and included 613 exhibits and 240 witnesses. The jury retired to the Grange Youth Centre in Aylesbury to consider their verdict. On 11 February 1964, there was a sensation when John Daly was found to have no case to answer. His counsel, Mr Raeburn QC, claimed that the evidence against his client was limited to his fingerprints being on the Monopoly set found at Leatherslade Farm and the fact that he went underground after the robbery. Raeburn went on to say that Daly had played the Monopoly game with his brother-in-law Bruce Reynolds earlier in 1963, and that he had gone underground only because he was associated with people publicly sought by the police. This was not proof of involvement in a conspiracy. The judge agreed, and the jury were directed to acquit him. Detective Inspector Frank Williams was shocked when this occurred because, owing to Tommy Butler’s refusal to share information, he had no knowledge of the fact that Daly’s prints were only on the Monopoly set. If Williams had known this, he could have asked Daly questions about the Monopoly set and robbed him of his very effective alibi. Daly was clever in avoiding having a photo taken when he was arrested until he could shave his beard. This meant that there was no photo to show the lengths he had gone to in order to change his appearance. No action was taken against Butler for his mistake in not ensuring the case against Daly was more thorough. On 15 April 1964 the proceedings ended with the judge describing the robbery as “a crime of sordid violence inspired by vast greed” and passing sentences of 30 years’ imprisonment on seven of the robbers. The eleven men sentenced all felt aggrieved at the sentences handed down, particularly Bill Boal (who died in prison) and Lennie Field, who were later found not guilty of the charges against them. The other men (aside from Wheater) resented what they considered to be the excessive length of the sentences, which were longer than those given to many murderers or armed robbers at the time. At that period, there was no parole system in place and prisoners served the full term of the sentence. Train robbers who were sentenced later, and by different judges, received shorter terms. At the time, the severity of the sentences caused some surprise. When mastermind Bruce Reynolds was arrested in 1968, he allegedly told arresting officer Tommy Butler that those sentences had had a detrimental effect. According to him, they had prompted criminals generally to take guns with them when they set out on robberies. No case to answer. 30 years (25 years for conspiracy to rob and 30 years for armed robbery). Racing motorist and silversmith. 20 years (20 years for conspiracy to rob and various receiving stolen goods charges). 25 years (20 years for conspiracy to rob and 5 years for obstructing justice). 3 years (Aiding and abetting a crime). On 13 July 1964, the appeals by Lennie Field and Brian Field (no relation) against the charges of conspiracy to rob were allowed. This meant that their sentences were effectively reduced to five years only. On 14 July 1964, the appeals by Roger Cordrey and Bill Boal were allowed, with the convictions for conspiracy to rob quashed, leaving only the receiving charges. Justice Fenton Atkinson concluded that a miscarriage of justice would result if Boal’s charges were upheld, given that his age, physique and temperament made him an unlikely train robber. Luckily for him, as the oldest robber, Cordrey was also deemed to be not guilty of the conspiracy because his prints had not been found at Leatherslade Farm. Brian Field was only reluctantly acquitted of the robbery. Justice Atkinson stated that he would not be surprised if Field were not only part of the conspiracy, but also one of the robbers. The charges against the other men were all upheld. In the end Lennie Field and Bill Boal got some measure of justice, but Boal died in prison in 1970 after a long illness. On 12 August 1964, Wilson escaped from Winson Green Prison in Birmingham in under three minutes, the escape being considered unprecedented in that a three-man team had broken into the prison to extricate him. His escape team was never caught and the leader, nicknamed “Frenchy”, had disappeared from the London criminal scene by the late 1960s. Two weeks after his escape Wilson was in Paris for plastic surgery. By November 1965, Wilson was in Mexico City visiting old friends Bruce Reynolds and Buster Edwards. [57] Wilson’s escape was yet another dramatic twist in the train robbery saga. Eleven months after Wilson’s escape, in July 1965, Biggs escaped from Wandsworth Prison, 15 months into his sentence. A furniture van was parked alongside the prison walls and a ladder was dropped over the 30-foot-high wall into the prison during outside exercise time, allowing four prisoners to escape, including Biggs. The escape was planned by recently released prisoner Paul Seaborne, with the assistance of two other ex-convicts, Ronnie Leslie and Ronnie Black, with support from Biggs’ wife, Charmian. The plot saw two other prisoners interfere with the warders, and allow Biggs and friend Eric Flower to escape. Seaborne was later caught by Butler and sentenced to four-and-a-half years; Ronnie Leslie received three years for being the getaway driver. The two other prisoners who took advantage of the Biggs escape were captured after three months. Biggs said he had to escape because of the length of the sentence and what he alleged to be the severity of the prison conditions. Wilson and Biggs’ escape meant that five of the known robbers were now on the run, with Tommy Butler in hot pursuit. Jimmy White With the other robbers on the run and having fled the country, only White was at large in the United Kingdom. White was a renowned locksmith/thief and had already been on the run for ten years before the robbery. He was said to have a remarkable ability to be invisible, to merge with his surroundings and become the ultimate Mr Nobody. He was a wartime paratrooper and a veteran of Arnhem. [11] According to Piers Paul Read in his 1978 book The Train Robbers, he was “a solitary thief, not known to work with either firm, he should have had a good chance of remaining undetected altogether, yet was known to be one of the Train Robbers almost at oncefirst by other criminals and then by the police”. Throughout his three years on the run with wife Sheree and baby son Stephen, he was taken advantage of or let down by friends and associates. On 10 April 1966 a new friend recognised him from photos in a newspaper and informed police. They arrested him at Littlestone while he was at home. The rest was long gone. He was tried in June 1966 at Leicester Assizes and Mr Justice Nield sentenced him to 18 years’ jail, considerably less than the 30 years given to other principal offenders. Charlie Wilson Wilson took up residence outside Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Rigaud Mountain in an upper-middle-class neighbourhood where the large, secluded properties are surrounded by trees. He lived under the name Ronald Alloway, a name borrowed from a Fulham shopkeeper. His wife and three children soon joined him. He joined an exclusive golf club and participated in the activities of the local community. It was only when he invited his brother-in-law over from the UK for Christmas that Scotland Yard was able to track him down and recapture him. They waited three months before making their move, in the hope that Wilson would lead them to Reynolds, the last suspect still to be apprehended. Wilson was arrested on 25 January 1968 by Tommy Butler. Many in Rigaud petitioned that his wife and three daughters be allowed to stay in the Montreal area. Bruce Reynolds On 6 June 1964, Reynolds arrived in Mexico, with his wife Angela and son Nick joining him a few months later, after they evaded the obvious police surveillance. A year later in July 1965, Buster Edwards and his family arrived, although unlike the Reynolds they planned to return to England at some stage, and did not like Mexico. Charlie Wilson, on the run with his family still back in England visited them for 6 weeks, so three of the train robbers were together in exile for a time. They had spent much of their share of the robbery by this point living far more extravagantly than the Edwards had. After realizing the danger in settling near the Wilsons in Montreal, they went to live in Vancouver, and then went to Nice, France. Ronnie Biggs Biggs fled to Paris, where he acquired new identity papers and underwent plastic surgery. In 1970, he moved to Adelaide, Australia, where he worked as a builderhe and his wife had a third son. Tipped off that Interpol was showing interest, he moved to Melbourne working as a set-constructor for Channel 9, later escaping to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after police had discovered his Melbourne address. Biggs could not be extradited because there was no extradition treaty between Britain and Brazil, and additionally he became father to a Brazilian son, which afforded him legal immunity. As a result, he lived openly in Rio for many years, safe from the British authorities. In 1981, Biggs’ Brazilian son became a member of a successful band Turma do Balão Mágico, but the band quickly faded into obscurity and dissolved. [62][63] Arrested on landing, after detention and a short court hearing he was sent back to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence. On 2 July 2009, Biggs was denied parole by Justice Secretary Jack Straw, who considered Biggs to be still wholly unrepentant. Following the deaths of Goody on 29 January 2016, [66] and Tommy Wisbey on 30 December 2016, [13] Bob Welch is the only remaining member of the gang known to still be alive. In later years, the robbers generally came together only for the funerals of their fellow gang members. Wilson’s funeral on 10 May 1990 was attended by Bruce Reynolds, who reported seeing Edwards, Roy James (who got into a verbal argument with the press), Welch (hobbling on crutches) and White (who went unnoticed due to his ability to blend into the background). At Edwards’ funeral in 1994, Reynolds saw only Welch. Hussey, Wisbey and James were all in prison at the time. At Reynolds’ own funeral, only Welch and Biggs attended, both in wheelchairs. A statement was read on behalf of Gordon Goody. Main article: Brian Field. After being sentenced on 16 April 1964, Field served four years of his five-year sentence. He was released in 1967. While he was in prison, his wife Karin divorced him and married a German journalist. [68] Karin wrote an article for the German magazine Stern. She confirmed that she took Roy James to Thame railway station so he could go to London and that she led a convoy of two vans back to “Kabri”, where the gang were joined by wives and girlfriends for a big party to celebrate the crime. It seems that Field was ambushed upon his release from prison by a recently released convict, “Scotch Jack” Buggy, who presumably roughed up or even tortured Field with a view to extorting some of the loot from the robbery. Subsequently, Field went to ground and Buggy was killed shortly after. Reynolds gave up trying to find Field. Field changed his name to Brian Carlton to disappear. Sometime after his release from prison he married Sian, from Wales. Field, aged 44, and Sian, aged 28, died in a car crash on the M4 motorway on 27 April 1979, a year after the last of the robbers had completed their sentences. A Mercedes driven by the pregnant 28-year-old daughter of well-known hairdresser Raymond Bessone (Mr Teasy Weasy) crossed a damaged section of the guard rail and slammed into Field’s oncoming Porsche. The Fields, Teasy Weasy’s daughter, her husband and two children were killed instantly. It was several weeks after the accident that Field’s true identity was discovered. It is not clear whether his wife Sian ever knew of his past. Main article: Charlie Wilson (criminal). His murder was thought to be related to suspected cheating in drug-dealing activity. [70] He is buried in Streatham Cemetery. [71] His story was dramatised in the 1988 film Buster, with Phil Collins in the title role. [71] Edwards died in a garage in November 1994, allegedly committing suicide by hanging himself. [71] His family continued to run the flower stall after his death. Roy James James went back to motor racing following his release on 15 August 1975. However, he crashed several cars, his chances of becoming a driver quickly faded. He produced the trophy given to Formula One promoters each year thanks to his acquaintance with Bernie Ecclestone. [72] In 1982, he married a younger woman, but the marriage soon broke down. [73] By 1983, James and Charlie Wilson had become involved in an attempt to import gold without paying excise duty. James was acquitted in January 1984 for his part in the swindle. He was sentenced to six years in jail. In 1996, James underwent triple-bypass surgery and was subsequently released from prison in 1997, only to die almost immediately afterwards on 21 August after another heart attack. [11] He was the fifth member of the gang to die, despite being the youngest. Roger Cordrey Cordrey was the first of the robbers released, but his share of the theft had almost entirely been recovered by the police. He went back to being a florist at his sister’s business upon his release. He is now dead, and his son Tony has publicly acknowledged his dad confirmed that Bill Boal was innocent of any involvement in the robbery. Bruce Reynolds Bruce Reynolds, the last of the robbers to be caught, was released from prison on 6 June 1978 after serving 10 years. Reynolds, then aged 47, was helped by Gordon Goody to get back on his feet, before Goody departed for Spain. [citation needed] By October 1978, day-release ended and he had to report to a parole officer. Frank Monroe, one of the three robbers who was never caught, temporarily gave Reynolds a job, but did not want to attract undue attention by employing him for too long. Reynolds later got back together with his wife Angela and son Nicholas. He was arrested in 1983 for drug-related offences (Reynolds denied having any involvement). He was released again in March 1985 and dedicated himself to helping his wife recover from a mental breakdown. In 2001, he and his son Nicholas travelled with reporters from The Sun newspaper to take Biggs back to Britain. [11] In 2010, he wrote the afterword for Signal Red, Robert Ryan’s novel based on the robbery, [78] and he regularly commented on the robbery. He died in his sleep, aged 81, on 28 February 2013. John Daly Upon his acquittal and release, and after finding his share of the loot stolen and/or destroyed, Daly gave up his life of crime and went “straight”. He and his wife Barbara and their three children moved to Cornwall, where he worked as a street sweeper until the age of 70, known to the locals as Gentleman John or John the Gent. Daly told no one about the robbery as he was told he could face a retrial. He died 6 weeks after his brother-in-law Reynolds. Main article: Ronnie Biggs. On 6 August 2009, Biggs was granted release from prison on “compassionate grounds”, due to a severe case of pneumonia and other ongoing health problems. [79] In 2011 he updated his autobiography, Odd Man Out: The Last Straw. Having suffered a series of strokes after his release, and unable to speak for the previous three years, Biggs died at the Carlton Court Care home, London on 18 December 2013. Tommy Wisbey and Big Jim Hussey. Tommy Wisbey was luckier than most of the others, in that his loot had been entrusted to his brothers, and when he emerged, he had a house in South London and a few other investments to keep him going. Unfortunately, during his prison stint, his daughter Lorraine had died in a car accident. He took a while to learn how to live harmoniously with his wife Rene (his daughter Marilyn having moved out upon his return). Shortly after his release, Wisbey was imprisoned on remand over a swindle involving travellers’ cheques. The judge acknowledged the minor nature of his role. Jim Hussey was released on 17 November 1975 and married girlfriend Gill (whom he had met just before the robbery). Hussey’s share of the loot had been entrusted to a friend of Frank Monroe who squandered it despite Monroe periodically checking on its keeper. Wisbey and Hussey fell back into crime and were jailed in 1989 for cocaine dealing, with Wisbey sentenced to ten years and Hussey to seven years. In her book Gangster’s Moll, Marilyn Wisbey recounts that on 8 June 1988, after returning home from a visit to an abortion clinic and lying down for a nap they were raided by the Drugs Squad. Her parents were staying with her and her son Jonathan while their tenants moved out of their house (they had been away on a long trip to the USA). The raid uncovered 1 kg of cocaine and Rene and Marilyn Wisbey were arrested along with Jimmy Hussey, who had been spotted accepting a package from Wisbey in a park. Wisbey himself was captured a year later in Wilmslow, Cheshire. He was allegedly staying with another woman, to the shock of his wife and daughter. In return for Hussey and Wisbey pleading guilty, the two women were unconditionally freed. [81] Upon their release from prison, both men retired from work. Wisbey later explained: We were against drugs all our lives, but as the years went on, towards the end of the’70s, it became more and more the’in’ thing. Being involved in the Great Train Robbery, our name was good. They knew we had never grassed anyone, we had done our time without putting anyone else in the frame. [84] Wisbey’s grandson has also had trouble with the law in Cyprus. Bob Welch Bob Welch (born March 1929) was released on 14 June 1976. He was the last of those convicted in Aylesbury to be released. Welch moved back in with his wife June and his son. He threatened the man left in charge of his share of the theft to retrieve the remainder. A leg injury sustained in prison forced him to undergo several operations, which left him semi-crippled. Douglas (Gordon) Goody He was released from prison on 23 December 1975, aged 46 years old and went to live with his ill mother in her small cottage in Putney. Unlike the other robbers, he was exceptionally lucky in that the man he left in charge of his affairs was loyal and successful so he was able to live a relatively well-off life. [87] In his final years of incarceration Goody had taken full benefit of the newly established education college at Wormwood Scrubbs and studied Spanish to GCE standard. He later moved to Mojacar, southern Spain, [88] where he bought property and a bar and settled down, believing it safer to be out of the United Kingdom. [11] He was at one point accused of cannabis smuggling but ultimately cleared. [71] He continued to reside in Mojacar until his death following an illness on 29 January 2016. While there has been a lot of mystery surrounding several of the gang who were not imprisoned, in reality the police knew almost the entire gang almost instantly. By 29 August 1963 Commander Hatherill had 14 names already, and told police that Brian Field had tried to enlist another gang to rob the train, who turned him down. Hatherill’s list was unerringly accurateall the major gang members who were later jailed were identified, except Ronnie Biggs. With the exception of the minor accomplices Lennie Field, Bill Boal and the train driver, the list was complete, although of course the Ulsterman was not identified. In terms of the ones who got away, there were four others identifiedHenry Smith, Dennis Pembroke, a fair-haired man (25 years old and well-spoken, not named) and a nondescript man (not named but maybe Jimmy Collins). Both Piers Paul Read, and later Bruce Reynolds refer to three robbers who got away as Bill Jennings, Alf Thomas and Frank Monroe. Bill’Flossy’ Jennings a. Piers Paul Read refers to this man as Bill Jennings in The Train Robbers, while Bruce Reynolds adds a nicknameFlossy. Ronnie Biggs refers to him as Mr One, as do other accounts. According to Bruce Reynolds,’Flossy had no previous convictions and stayed well out of contact with the group. A shadowy figure, nobody knew exactly where he livedor even what his real name was. All we knew that he was one hundred per cent, and was sure to last out the hullabaloo. The last report of him said that he was in a safe house, banged up with two gorgeous girls and enough champagne to sink a battleship'[90]. It is clear that while Reynolds claims to not have known his real name, that’Flossy’ was not just a participant in the Great Train Robbery, he was a core part of the gang who participated in the London Airport robbery. This robbery was the audacious raid that Gordon Goody and Charlie Wilson were acquitted of. That raid consisted of Roy James and Mickey Ball as the getaway drivers, with six robbersBruce Reynolds, Buster Edwards, Gordon Goody, Charlie Wilson, Flossy (and a sixth man who did not participate in the train robbery). In the end the only one caught after the airport raid was Mickey Ball, who pleaded guilty to being a getaway driver when a witness mistook him for Flossy, and to avoid being blamed for the actual violence he agreed to plead guilty as an accomplice, and was in prison during the Great Train Robbery. Smith died in 2008. [89] Smith was the only man not ultimately arrested that was on both the Hatherill list, and Tommy Butler’s list. Alf Thomas is alleged to have been a South Coast Raider, [92] but is said by Piers Paul Read to have been introduced by Jimmy White, [93] which may have been true or a diversion by the robbers that told Read their story. The man is sometimes referred to as Mr Two or Mr Three, depending on the account. Ronnie Biggs refers to him as Mr Three and notes several times that he is the biggest of the gang, and the one who stormed the cab to subdue the driver. It is alleged that the man referred to as Alf Thomas is Dennis (Danny) Pembroke. [95] Following the robbery, Pembroke is said to have turned his back on crime and lived quietly in Kent, working as a cab driver. He died aged 79 from a heart attack, at home and in his sleep on 28 February 2015. Pembroke had five children, and his son Danny Jnr, said his father had never spoken about the Great Train Robbery. On 6 September 1963, Flying Squad officers DCI Williams and Det Sgt Jack Slipper search Pembroke’s house, but nothing incriminating was found and he was extensively interrogated and his prints taken. Samples of his pubic hair were taken to compare with those found in sleeping bags at Leatherslade Farm, but there was no match. The Flying Squad could therefore never prove that Danny Pembroke was one of the robbers as no forensic evidence linked him to the crime scene or the farm. According to Bruce Reynolds, Monroe, who was never caught, worked as a film stunt man for a while before starting a paper and scrap metal recycling business. The Replacement Train Driver a. The replacement train driver was never caught, and never suspected of even existing by police, due to the fact that Jack Mills in the end had to drive the train. The driver, of course, was not a member of the gang (as defined by receiving an equal share), just an accomplice. Piers Paul Read called the replacement train driver “Stan Agate”, and Stan was apparently the true nickname of the replacement driver. Read, concerned that the robbers may have hurt him, went to see Ronnie Biggs in Brazil to get his details, although was dismayed to find that Biggs did not know his last name and knew and cared very little about him. With the meagre details provided, Read used a detective agency to track down the driver at a town 20 miles south of London, and found that he was still alive, although somewhat senile and being cared for by his wife. The wife admitted that she had burnt all the clothes that he had worn that night, and had nervously waited for either the gang to murder him or the police to arrest him. Read promised not to reveal their identities. [96] Unlike the other three members of the gang who got away, Peta Fordham does make mention of the replacement driver, but notes that he is said now to be dead, perhaps the robbers who provided material for the book did not want the police looking for him, as at the time of publishing (1965) Reynolds, White and Edwards were still on the run. Ronnie Biggs, in his 1994 autobiography, Odd Man Out, said that Bruce Reynolds offered him a chance to join the gang, if he could find a train driver. Biggs was renewing the front windows of a train driver’s house in Redhill, who he calls’Peter’ (and who he believes to be dead by 1994). It seems that while he was an older man, he still had to apply for two weeks leave of absence from his job. Biggs states that Mary Manson drove’Peter’ and John Daly home, while Reynolds drove Biggs home. It is alleged in The Sun that the replacement train driver was Peter Stevens. John Wheater was released from prison on 11 February 1966 and managed his family’s laundry business in Harrogate. [100] He later wrote two articles in the Sunday Telegraph, who published the first one on 6 March 1966. He died in July 1985. Lenny Field was released in 1967 and went to live in North London. He disappeared from the public eye. Mary took care of wives and children of some of the robbers while they were on the run or in jail. Mills had constant trauma headaches for the rest of his life. He died in 1970 from leukaemia. Mills’ assailant was one of three members of the gang, who was never identified by the others. However, in November 2012, Hussey made a death-bed confession that it was he, [101] although there were suspicions that this was repayment of a debt, to divert attention from the real perpetrator. Williams claims the train driver’s assailant is not some phantom figure lurking in the criminal underworld, and that he traced him, identified him and took him to Scotland Yard where, with Tommy Butler, Williams questioned him. [citation needed] He could not be charged because of lack of evidence; there were no fingerprints or identifiable marks anywhere. None of those arrested informed on this person, although it was claimed that he had completely disobeyed instructions and used violence during the robbery. David Whitby (24 January 1937 6 January 1972)[103] was also from Crewe. He was traumatised by his track-side assault and subsequent rough treatment and never recovered from his ordeal. [104] He was 25 years old at the time of the robbery. He was able to resume his career as a secondman, but died from a heart attack on 6 January 1972 at the age of 34 in Crewe, Cheshire. Engineer William Gerald “Bill” Boal (22 October 1913 26 June 1970), an accomplice after the fact of Roger Cordrey. He died in jail of cancer. [105] His family are now trying to have his name cleared, as they believe, based on evidence not used in the original trial, that Boal was at best an accomplice after the fact with no knowledge of the robbery, and that Cordrey likely told him nothing about where he obtained the cash. [77] Further, both Ronnie Biggs and Gordon Goody, two surviving gang members at the time, gave sworn affidavits asserting that Boal was innocent. Both gang members stated that they believed Boal was “stitched up” by the police. The audacity and scale of the robbery was yet another controversy with which the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan had to cope. Macmillan resigned in October 1963, claiming poor healthhe had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and believed he did not have long to live, but the diagnosis turned out to be incorrect. [107] He did not contest his seat at the next election in September 1964, which the Labour Party won under Harold Wilson. After his success in securing White and Edwards, Tommy Butler got the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Joseph Simpson, to suspend his retirement on his 55th birthday so he could continue to hunt the robbers. This paid off with the arrests of first Wilson, then Reynolds. When asked by a reporter after the sentencing of Reynolds whether that was the end of it, Butler replied that it was not over until Biggs was caught. In 1969 he was finally forced to accept compulsory retirement, and later died in 1970, aged 57 years. That same day, Biggs’ memoirs were published in The Sun newspaper. Butler’s deputy, Frank Williams, was passed over to be his replacement as head of the Flying Squad because of his deal with Edwards (which he thought would seal his promotion) and his deal with another of the robbers who was never caught. Following this, he left the force to become head of security for Qantas. He wrote his autobiography No Fixed Address, which was published in 1973. Jack Slipper of the Metropolitan Police was promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent. He became so involved in the case that he continued to hunt many of the escaped robbers after he retired. He believed Biggs should not be released after returning to the UK in 2001 and he often appeared in the media to comment on any news item connected with the robbery before his death on 24 August 2005 at the age of 81. Detective Chief Superintendent Ernest Malcolm Fewtrell, Head of the Buckinghamshire Crime Investigation Department (CID) was born on 29 September 1909 and died on 28 November 2005, aged 96 years. He retired on the last day of the trial after the verdicts were handed down (at the then compulsory retirement age of 55). [108] This allowed him (with Ronald Payne of The Sunday Telegraph, who was involved in the paper’s coverage of the case) to be the first of the investigators to write a book The Train Robbers on the robbery investigation in 1964. In the book he expressed some frustration with the Flying Squad although he mostly had praise for individual officers. His one regret was that he had the search for the hideout carried out radiating outwards from the scene of the robbery rather than an inwards search from a 30-mile (48 km) perimeter. [109] He worked as an Accommodation Officer for Portsmouth Polytechnic before retiring to live by the sea near Swanage. He continued to express disgust at any film that he felt glamourised the robbers. It has been said that he bore a striking resemblance to John Thaw, who was the star of Inspector Morse, which, perhaps coincidentally, was a television series about a detective in the Thames Valley Police Force (the modern-day successor to Buckinghamshire Constabulary). Fewtrell was assisted and later succeeded in the investigation by John Woolley, who served in the Buckinghamshire Constabulary from 1959 to 1984. George Hatherill (18981986) had his service extended by one year because of the need to complete the investigation of the Great Train Robbery. He visited Canada and the USA as a lecturer on police matters. He died on 17 June 1986 at the age of 87. Gerald MacArthur died aged 70 years on 21 July 1996. He was famous for breaking up the Richardson Gang at a time when a significant number of London-based detectives were known to be corrupt. Train Robbers Bridge Network Rail plaque. One of the Post Office carriages that was part of the remaining train (not involved in the actual robbery) is preserved at the Nene Valley Railway at Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, and is being restored. The actual carriage that was robbed [M30204M] was retained for 7 years following the robbery, and then taken to Norfolk and burned in the presence of Police and Post Office representatives at a scrapyard near Norwich in 1970. This was to deter collector/souvenir hunters. Locomotive English Electric Type 4 D326 (later 40126) was involved in a number of serious operating incidents. The locomotive was scrapped at Doncaster Railway workshops in 1984. The scene of the crime was for some years called “Train Robbers’ bridge” on a Network Rail maintenance sign. This led to an outcry advocating restoration of the original name of Bridego Bridge, but in late 2013 it was renamed again, as Mentmore Bridge. [112] This renaming has yet to occur as the Network Rail signage still says Train Robbers Bridge. A diorama of the scene has been built by a local club and is currently on display near Aberdeen, at the Grampian Transport Museum for the summer of 2014. The final changeover had not been completed by the time of the robbery. The white notes quickly became far more conspicuous to use, making it harder for them to be spent. This has caused speculation that there is a great deal of robbery loot still out there. Thus the proceeds of the greatest cash robbery in British history were quickly used up, with few of the robbers receiving any real long-term benefit. While no evidence had been found against “Thomas”, who only had a reputation as a minor thief, some of the identifiable bank notes had been traced back to him through friends who had been charged with receiving. Given that the police had no evidence against “Thomas”, either at Leatherslade Farm or connection with either of the two gangs, Butler was prepared to let him go. He noted that it seemed to him that Butler was sceptical of his efforts and that at the press conference Hatherill and Millen did not reveal the circumstances behind the find and that he was never asked to talk with them about it. Despite “Alf Thomas” being the man identified as the assailant of the train driver, Jack Mills, by Bruce Reynolds (albeit indirectly), Williams only makes mention of the assailant once in his book. In this section (often quoted by other sources), he confirms that, with Tommy Butler, he questioned the man they knew to be the assailant but that they had no evidence to convict him. Strangely, however, he makes no further mention of him. This lends credence to the claim that a deal was done with “Alf Thomas” which later caused outrage in the police hierarchy. [115] It is hinted in several books that the deals done by Williams were responsible for his being overlooked for promotion and that Williams was unhappy that his efforts were not recognised by Butler, but were instead hidden from superiors. But in spite of our strong suspicions, nothing could be proved against him and so no charge could be brought. [116] Hatherill does not mention Williams at all in his book. He retired on the last day of the trial at Aylesbury. According to Marilyn Wisbey, her father’s share was hidden by his father Tommy Wisbey Senior in the panels in the doors of his home. By the time Wisbey was released from jail all of his share had either been spent or invested. Although the Wisbey share was one that was not taken by other criminals, Marilyn Wisbey is still bitter that her relatives got to spend a fair amount of the loot while the overall sum dwindled away. Up to six of the robbers escaped punishment in one way or anotherthe “Ulsterman”, three robbers who were never caught, John Daly who had his charges dismissed at the trial and Ronnie Biggs who escaped from jail and managed to avoid being taken back to the UK. He died before Daly could catch up with him. Upon the release of the others in the mid-1970s, “Bill Jennings” got in touch with Buster Edwards and “Frank Monroe” got in touch with the South Coast Raiders. “Alf Thomas” had disappeared and John Daly at the time was said to be living on the dole in West Country. [118] Ronnie Biggs quickly spent his share getting a new life (the ultimate goal of some criminals). These books were written in the immediate aftermath of the 1964 trial and before the capture of several of the gang. The Great Train Robbery (1964) by John Gosling and Dennis Craig. The first book about the robbery, it relied on the real-life experience of John Gosling, a former policeman. The Robbers’ Tale (1965) by Peta Fordham, first published by Hodder & Stoughton, London. It told the story of the robbery only shortly after the conclusion of the initial trial. The author was the wife of one of the lawyers involved in the case. The book mostly involves a description of the trial. The author constantly hints that she knew more than she was prepared to write, yet it was written before most of the facts emerged. Books written by senior police in the early 1970s, after their retirement, chiefly present accounts of the investigation, capture, trial and recapture of the robbers. The Train Robbers (1964) by Malcolm Fewtrell (with Ronald Payne), first published in London by Arthur Barker Limited. Chapter 14, the last chapter of the book is dedicated to the Great Train Robbery the final major investigation before Hatherill’s retirement. Specialist in Crime (1972) by Ernest Millen, first published by George G. When he retired, Millen was Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard and Commander of the CID. A unique inside story of his career as a detective. No Fixed Address (1973) by Frank Williams, first published by W. It tells the story of the aftermath of the robbery from Williams’ point of view, in particular describing the mistakes made in the early days by senior officers, and the autocratic nature of Tommy Butler. The book is targeted at Ronnie Biggs in the hope that he will contact Williams for a deal, similar to the one arranged by Buster Edwards. The book mistakenly identifies Bill Boal as a robber (although it concedes his role was a support role), and it also mistakenly identifies Biggs as one of the leaders. This book is an autobiography of the police career of Jack Slipper, who had retired the year before as one of the best-known and most decorated detectives in the Metropolitan Police Force. It includes a chapter on his participation in the Train Robbery Squad hunting for the robbers, and has details on the arrests of Roy James, John Daly and Jimmy Hussey. It also has a chapter on the mission to recover Ronnie Biggs from Brazil and denounces the press version of events. Slip Up (1975) by Anthony Delano and first published by Quadrangle / The New York Times Book Co. The Train Robbers (1978) by Piers Paul Read and first published by W. This book recounts a very detailed version of the story based on an exclusive account given by eight of the then-paroled robbers (Edwards, Goody, Hussey, Wisby, Welch, James, White and Cordrey with contradictory versions by Reynolds and Biggs). Despite revealing more than previous accounts, the book is flawed in that it includes inaccuracies that the funding source for the heist was former SS officer Otto Skorzeny. As the story unfolds in the book, however, the German connection was proved to be false. This book is an autobiography of the life of Ronald Biggs, particularly his life on the run after the Great Train Robbery. This book is a novel that strongly draws on the events of the Great Train Robbery and suggests what may have happened to the three men who were never caught. Gangster’s Moll Living with a life of crime from the Great Train Robbery to’Mad’ Frankie Fraser. This is an autobiography of the daughter of Tommy Wisbey. It includes details concerning how his share was hidden and later spent, and the effect of the life of crime on the families of the criminals. Killing Charlie (2004) by Wensley Clarkson, first published by Mainstream Publishing Co (Edinburgh) Ltd (ISBN 9781845960353). This book serves as a biography for the train robber, Charlie Wilson but was written fourteen years after his death. “Ronnie Biggs- The Inside Story” (2009) Hardback book by Mike Gray, A Close Family friend of Ronnie and Organiser of The Free Ronnie Biggs Campaign 20012009, The book tells of Ronnie’s prison life in HMP Belmarsh & HMP Norwich, from his UK return in May 2001 to his release on compassionate grounds in August 2009, from HMP Norwich, published by Apex publishing (Essex) Limited, ISBN 978-1-908548-48-1. Odd Man Out: The Last Straw (2011) by Ronald Biggs, first published by Mpress Limited (ISBN 978-0-9570398-2-7). This book is the final autobiography of the life of Ronald Biggs, particularly his life on the run after the Great Train Robbery. It includes Biggs’ return to the UK and subsequent release. Biggs also contributed, along with Bruce Reynolds, to The Great Train Robbery 50th Anniversary:19632013, published by Mpress in 2013. “The Ronnie Biggs Quiz Book” (October 2013) by Mike Gray (Author of Ronnie Biggs-The Inside Story) 200 Quiz questions on Ronald Arthur Biggs, published as a Kindle only by Apex Publishing (Essex) Limited, ISBN 978-1-909949-87-4. “101 Interesting Facts on Ronnie Biggs & The Great Train Robbery” (November 2013) by Mike Gray, published by Apex Publishing (Essex) Limited, ISBN 978-1-909949-97-3. “The Great Train Robbery Quiz Book” (December 2013) by Mike Gray (Author of Ronnie Biggs The Inside Story & The Ronnie Biggs Quiz Book & 101 Interesting Facts on Ronnie Biggs & The Great Train Robbery) published by Apex Publishing (Essex) Limited. The Great British Train Robbery (2003) by Tim Coates, published by Tim Coates in 2003, (ISBN 1843810220). Contains National Archives extracts from the report of Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, which was submitted to the Home Office in 1964. The Great Train Robbery (2008) by Peter Guttridge (ISBN 9781905615322). Commissioned by the National Archives as part of a series, this small book brings together highlights from the Public Records Office, Historical Manuscripts Commission, Office of Public Sector Information and Her Majesty’s Stationery Office and information from other books. Signal Red (2010) by Robert Ryan, published by Headline Review (ISBN 9780755358182). A novel based on the robbery with a postscript by Bruce Reynolds. The Great Train Robbery History Making Heist (2011) by Brenda Haugen, published by Compass Point Books, a Capstone Imprint (ISBN 9780756543600). The Great Train Robbery Crime of the Century the definitive account (2013) by Nick Russell-Pavier, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson/Orion Books (ISBN 9780297864394). The Great Train Robbery 50th Anniversary:19632013 (2013) by Bruce Reynolds, Ronnie Biggs, Nick Reynolds and Christopher Pickard, published by Mpress (ISBN 9780957255975). The full story of the planning preparation and aftermath from the people involved in the robbery. Pithie, Fraser; Cornwell, Christopher (August 2013). “The Great Train Robbery”. Horncastle, Lincs: Mortons Media Group (published 10 July 2013). Archived from the original on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2013. Details of the story focussing on the railway aspects of the robbery. Keep on Running – A Story from the Great Train Robbery (1995/2014) by Ronnie Biggs and Christopher Pickard, published by Mpress (ISBN 9780992606275). A novel by Ronnie Biggs based on the three robbers that got away. The novel mixes fact with fiction. First published by Bloomsbury in 1995, it was published on Kindle for the first time on 8 August 2014 on what would have been Biggs’ 85th birthday. The 1966 German 3-part TV mini series Die Gentlemen bitten zur Kasse [de] tells a fictionalised version of the story more or less close to the facts, but changes the names of those involved and of locations. The 1967 film, Robbery, is a heavily fictionalised version based on the events of 1963 directed by Peter Yates. The movie launched Yates’ Hollywood career after it attracted the interest of Steve McQueen who got the British director to make his next feature, Bullitt. The film featured a gripping car chase (though this was connected to another earlier crime and not the robbery) which included scenes of a policeman being run down. Despite being a fictionalised account Robbery did draw on key details of the real robbery and these were reflected in the film. These included the detailed planning and preparation used, the use of a farmhouse as a base and the intended (but unsuccessful) use of a replacement driver for the train. The film ends with the mastermind of the robbery “Clifton”, played by Stanley Baker (whose own company Oakhurst Productions had produced the film), evading capture and going on the run overseas by posing as a merchant seaman. The 1969 French film The Brain stars David Niven as a British master criminal who perpetrates in France a heist based on the Great Train robbery. The script implies him to be the real planner of the 1963 robbery. In 1988, Buster Edwards’ experiences were made into the comedy-drama Buster, starring Phil Collins. In 2012, a five-part ITV docudrama, Mrs Biggs, was produced, relating events chiefly from the point of view of Charmian Biggs, who personally assisted in the scripting and production. ITV concurrently produced a 44-minute documentary film, The Great Train Robbery, written and directed by Marion Milne. Based on The Great Train Robbery Crime of the Century the definitive account (2013) by Nick Russell-Pavier, who also acted as programme consultant. Filmed at actual locations and featuring interviews with Charmian Biggs, Bruce Reynolds and other real-life participants. In the 1965 film, Help! John Lennon makes a snide reference to robbery in Scotland Yard. Great Train Robbery, how’s that going? A comedy version was staged in the 1966 film The Great St Trinian’s Train Robbery. In Robbery (1967), Stanley Baker plays a character based upon Reynolds. The 1968 film Inspector Clouseau sent the incompetent French policeman in pursuit of Rainbow, a fictional character based on Reynolds, who appears in Gosling and Craig’s 1965 book about the robbery and in McDaniel’s 1967 book. Singer Phil Collins starred in the title role of Buster (1988), a comedy-drama film loosely based on the life of Edwards; Larry Lamb played Reynolds. In TV series Widows-3 She’s Out! (1995) Dolly Rawlins teams up with several other parolees and make plans to stage a train robbery on horseback. In the online multiplayer game RuneScape, there is a quest called “The Great Brain Robbery”, with similar plot elements. In the computer video game, Starcraft 2, there is a mission titled “The Great Train Robbery”. In the video game, Borderlands 2, there is a mission called “The Pretty Good Train Robbery”. In the 2010 Rockstar video game; Red Dead Redemption, the player must take supplies from a train in a fashion similar to this in the mission “The Great Mexican Train Robbery”. The board game “The Great Train Robbery” by Bruce Barrymore Halpenny in the 1970s. John Gosling and Dennis Craig’s book on the robbery The Great Train Robbery the Incredible Story of a Masterpiece of Modern Crime (1965), theorised that the theft was masterminded by a cashiered British army officer, Johnnie Rainbow. The character of Rainbow featured in The Rainbow Affair (1967), a novel by David McDaniel based on the television series The Man from UNCLE. Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple detective novel At Bertram’s Hotel (1965) contains elements of the robbery. Signal Red: A Novel Based on the Great Train Robbery (2010), a novel by Robert Ryan. LIFE magazine, in its 23 August 1963 issue, featured an 8-page article title’STOP! For The Greatest Train Robbery and’Big Tickle Puts The Scream Too High. Novelization of Buster by Colin Shindler (ISBN 9780747403760). The American rock band Mountain included the song “The Great Train Robbery” on their 1971 album Nantucket Sleighride. The song’s lyrics refer to Wilson and Rainbow by name. Ronald Biggs recorded vocals on two songs for The Great Rock’n’ Roll Swindle, Julien Temple’s 1980 mockumentary film about the Sex Pistols. The basic tracks for “No One is Innocent” aka “The Biggest Blow (A Punk Prayer)” and “Belsen Was a Gas” were recorded with guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook at a studio in Brazil shortly after the Sex Pistols’ final performance, with overdubs being added in an English studio at a later date. “No One is Innocent” was released as a single in the UK and reached No. 6 on the British singles charts, with the sleeve showing Martin Bormann playing bass with the group (in actuality this was American actor James Jeter). In 1991, Ronald Biggs sang vocals for the song “Carnival in Rio (Punk Was)” by German punk band Die Toten Hosen. Following the extradition attempt, Biggs collaborated with Bruce Henry (an American double-bass player), Jaime Shields, and Aureo de Souza to record Mailbag Blues, a musical narrative of his life that he intended to use a movie soundtrack. This album was re-released in 2004 by whatmusic. British group, Alabama 3, recorded a tribute to Bruce Reynolds about the robbery, “Have You Seen Bruce Richard Reynolds” (originally recorded by The Fylde Folk) on which he appears, on their 2005 album, Outlaw. Alabama 3 harmonica player, Nick Reynolds, is the son of Bruce Reynolds. Mike Gray’Ronnie Biggs- Knockin on Heavens Door’ (2009) Mike Gray (Author of Ronnie Biggs-The Inside Story’) wrote the lyrics and sang the vocals on this track, uploaded onto YouTube in 2009, and has had over 27,500 hits. British group The Crocketts called their second album The Great Brain Robbery, which was released in 2000. In several 1963 episodes of The Navy Lark, the robbery was referred to via expressions of surprise by various characters of seeing Chief Petty Officer Pertwee free, and not in police custody for committing the robbery. In February 2006, Channel 4 aired a documentary about the 1981 plot to kidnap Biggs and take him to Barbados. The programme featured a dramatisation of the attempt and an interview with ex-soldier John Miller, one of the men responsible. In the programme, security consultant Patrick King, who led the team, claimed that the kidnapping may have in fact been a deniable operation. Bruce Reynolds was portrayed in the 2012 television series Mrs Biggs by Jay Simpson. On 18 December 2013, the day Ronnie Biggs died, BBC One aired the first of a two-part dramatisation The Great Train Robbery. Episode one, A Robber’s Tale details the organisation of and successful completion of the robbery. Episode two, A Copper’s Tale follows the police investigation into the crime and subsequent arrest of many of the perpetrators. A popular skit from the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe, starring Peter Cook and Alan Bennett, deals with the efforts to catch the criminals behind the robbery. In Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Starlight Express”, C. B the Red Caboose admits to being involved in several famous railway crimes, commenting that “when they robbed the Great Train, I collected”. On 10 September 2011 two 5-inch-gauge battery-powered scale models of class 40 locomotives on the half mile-plus circuit of The Strawberry Line Miniature Railway in the Avon Valley Country Park at Keynsham near Bristol were named in honour of Driver Jack Mills and Secondman David Whitby. The item “Ronnie Biggs Great Train Robbery 1963 Hand Signed Card With Message Drawing COA” is in sale since Wednesday, July 24, 2019. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Autographs\Historical”. The seller is “rsaigal” and is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 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