Tuesday 27th December 2011

Great Train Robbery 


In August 8th 1963 the train travelling from Glasgow to London was attacked by a group of thieves losing approximately two million pounds. Police were caught by surprise as that train had been doing that route around 125 years and never encountered a problem. To complete the robbery it took 15 men and other companions, I have listed some of the gang members below:

• Douglas Gordon Edwards
• Ronnie Biggs
• Bruce Reynolds
• Tom Wisbey
• Jim Hussey
• Bob Welch
• Roy James
• Brian Field
• Roger Cordey
• John Daly
• William Boal
• Charlie Wilson
• Leonard Field
• Jimmy White

Apart from the gang members there was also other people involved to help with the master plan such as guards at the safe house etc...There is no individual who is known to have been the mastermind of the robbery although most believe its Bruce Reynolds (burglar) who started scheming this robbery after he came out of jail in 1962.  Reynolds was able to get a hold of the trains details such as its schedule, how much money it was carrying and where it was held. Roger Cordery figured out a way of stopping the train by tampering with the signal lights (covering the green and using wires to turn on the red light). Early that morning the gang awaited the train and cut all emergency phone lines near the railway track. The first two train carriages were separated from the rest of the train where they then ended up in Bridego Bridge, this is where the gang unloaded the 120 bags of money and post onto their truck.The attackers broke into the second carriage of the train where the mail and money bags were held this train ride had double the amount that it usually carries as it had been a bank holiday in scotland therefore there was accumulated mail. Apart from stealing a large amount of money the train driver Jack Mills aged 58 suffered head injuries (from the attackers) resulting in having to stay in a hospital in Aylesbury. According to police reports the attackers must have been carrying sticks which must have been used to attack the driver. 

Police didn't take long to realise that something was wrong, early that morning they found that phone wires were cut and train signals had been altered. The post office and banks were offering rewards up to £260,00 to anyone that had any information on the crime occurred and the criminals involved. Eventually the police tracked the gangs hide out located in Leatherslade Farm in Bedfordshire and 12/15 gang members were jailed for a lifetime (more than 300 years altogether).  Bruce Reynolds managed to stay hidden from the police until 1969 where he was captured and jailed for 10 years although another gang member Ronnie Biggs escaped for many years and only returned to Britain in 2001 as he needed medical treatment. There he was captured and jailed to complete his 28 year sentence although he was released in 2009 after suffering strokes.