BBC HomeExplore the BBC
This page was last updated in September 2004We've left it here for reference.More information

15 December 2009
Accessibility help
Text only
threecountiesthreecounties

BBC Homepage
»BBC Local
Beds, Herts & Bucks
Things to do
People & Places
Nature
History
Religion & Ethics
Arts and Culture
BBC Introducing
TV & Radio

Neighbouring Sites

  • Berkshire
  • Cambridgeshire
  • Essex
  • London
  • Northampton
  • Oxford
  • Related BBC Sites

    England
     

    Contact Us

    Like this page?
    Send it to a friend!

     

    Friday 8 August 2003
    The Great Train Robbery: 40 years on
    Nick Lawerence and John Wooley.
    BBC Three Counties Radio's Nick Lawerence interviews retired policeman John Wooley who found the hideout at Leatherslade Farm
    Forty years ago on Friday, the outskirts of a sleepy town on the Beds-Bucks border became home of one of the biggest and most extraordinary crimes ever committed.
    ;
    WATCH and LISTEN
    audio David Whitby on the attack in the enginge cab.
    audio Jack Mills on putting up a fight.
    audio The robbers on getting into the High Value Package coach
    audio A news report from Leatherslade Farm
    audio A report from Aylesbury
    audio On Jack Mills death
    audio Ronnie Biggs talks in Brazil
    BBC download guide
    Free Real player
    SEE ALSO

    Case Closed: The Great Train Robbery

    Biggs: a life on the run

    WEB LINKS
    The Great Train Robbery
    Ronnie Biggs
    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
    ESSENTIAL INFO

    £2,631,684 in £1, £5 and £10 notes was stolen in the raid, equivalent to £26 million today.

    Only £335,000 was every recovered, including £100,000 which was stashed in the woods.

    get in contact

    Several years in the making, with precision and detail that was second-to-none, 16 thieves stopped an overnight mail train and took £2.6 million in used bank notes - equivalent to £26 million by today's standards.

    The gang gained information about the train movements from a solicitor's clerk who acted as informant. Posing as train-spotters, they then watched the railways, recording the timings and looking for the best location for the robbery. Such was the planning involved, that members were given tobacco boxes to put their cigarette stubs in to prevent evidence of their existence being found.

    Mick King and Anne Hammond.
    Mick King, chief reporter Leighton Buzzard Observer and Anne Hammond, former chief reporter Beds and Bucks Observer, reading the original newspaper from the time.

    The gang knew that there would be a lot of cash in transit after the August bank holiday in Scotland. The most important carriages were the two directly behind the diesel engine; the second of which was the High Value Packet Coach. Although the train had no passengers, staff from the Royal Mail were working sorting the various packages ready for arrival in London.

    On the night of the robbery, a leather glove was placed over the green signal at Sears Crossing, where a farm track meets the railway line. The red-light, to indicate the train should stop, was illuminated instead.

    The train.
    The train

    The Glasgow-London mail train came to a halt, and as was railway custom, the fireman David Whitby, climbed out of the engine to use the track-side telephone. However, the lines had been disconnected and David Whitby was taken hostage. When the driver, Jack Mills went to investigate he was assaulted with a blow to the head.

    In order to unload the heist, the robbers had to move the train half a mile down the track to Bridego Bridge. They uncoupled the first two carriages and attempted to move the train using their own driver, but he was unable to restart the train, and instead they had to rely on Jack Mills.

    Bridego Bridge.
    Bridego Bridge now known as Train Robbers Bridge

    Once they'd moved the train they tied the driver and co-driver up and forced their way into the High Value Package Coach. Using a human chain, they managed to pass 120 sacks weighing around two and a half tons down the embankment and onto the waiting vehicles.

    As the gang left, they allegedly offered Jack Mills some money, but he refused it. They left a few of the bags and then made their way to Leatherslade Farm, about 30 miles west of Leighton Buzzard on the Bucks-Oxfordshire border.

    The farm at Oakley, near Brill, had been bought by the gang two months before the raid took place, with the promise that they'd do it up. They lay low after the heist, passing the time with tea and playing Monopoly, but become aware that the police were closing in on them and scattered.

    The Hideout
    The Hideout

    It was this quick exit that proved their downfall; when police entered the farm after receiving a tip-off from a herdsman, they discovered fingerprints on cups, in the bathroom, on a cats' bowl and the Monopoly set. And to make matters worse, one of the gang left a handprint on the train itself.

    Eventually all the members of the gang were caught, and collectively sentenced to 300 years in prison, but that wasn't the end of the story. After five years on the run, the mastermind behind the operation, Bruce Reynolds, was caught and sentenced to 25 years in jail, of which he served ten.

    The train robbers.
    The train robbers.

    But perhaps the most famous of the gang was Ronnie Biggs, who escaped from Wandsworth Prison in a furniture van after serving just 15 months of his sentence.

    He fled to Spain, Australia and finally Spain and had plastic surgery to change his appearance. Repeated attempts to extradite him back to Britain failed as the heist gained cult status. Eventually he returned to the UK, and is currently serving time, aged 72 and in poor health. His son, Michael Biggs, is campaigning to have him released.

    Another robber, Buster Edwards, gave himself up after fleeing to Mexico for three years. His exploits were portrayed by Phil Collins in the hit film Buster.

    The robbery caught the imagination of the public, especially the £1 million bounty for each of the gang members; a figure unheard of in the time. However, despite the hype and legendary status of the gang members, the reality is that it was a serious crime and the driver, Jack Mills, never returned to work and died six years later.

    your comments

     
    Wendy Marsden (nee Russell), Wymondham, Norfolk Friday, 24-Oct-2003 14:01:08 BST
    Hi There - Well, I was a young girl of just 16 when the robbery occured. I had just started working as a telephonist at the G.P.O. in Aylesbury. News came to us first as all the Fleet Street newspaper reporters were jamming the lines to get their stories in first. We got to know quite a few but as we had signed the Official Secrets Act, we couldn't discuss anything with anyone. It was a very exciting time and I know we shouldn't have listened in, but we did...rivetting stuff....better than any soap opera.Would love to hear from anyone else about at that time who worked for the G.P.O. or lived in Wendover. Byeeee for now.....Wendy

    Carolyn, Dunstable Monday, 15-Sep-2003 13:23:24 BST
    Why has the so-called Great Train Robbery been glorified so much over the years? The robbers were petty crooks, clearly out of their depth with big-time crime. They left fingerprints and red-hot clues left, right and centre, the planning was feeble, they were responsible for a man's severe trauma and early death and they were too amateur to get away with their crimes for any length of time. The film should have been a Carry-On movie!

    conrad vickers, cleethorpes Saturday, 13-Sep-2003 14:56:51 BST
    A well organised job,I,m highly impressed & they should free Ronnie as he has already served his time.

    Jemma Boyles, Luton Sunday, 07-Sep-2003 07:54:33 BST
    i pass over the bridge everyday on my way to work. Always look out over the fields and try and imagine what it would have been like the night of the robbery!

    Bryan Coventry, leighton Buzard Saturday, 23-Aug-2003 10:42:33 BST
    Ilive very close to the bridge.Infact I pass most days.I never fail to look over the feild as i pass and make a mental note that thisis a peiceof history.Unfortunatly i am one of a very few who are interested any more.

    Colin, Dagenham Friday, 22-Aug-2003 12:42:53 BST
    They made the mistake of stealing money because then money meant more than taking a life!

    james, Buckingham Friday, 22-Aug-2003 23:06:42 BST
    I think there sentences where to long i dont think it it was right that they had taken all that money but they didnt kill any one and people who have done worse crimes get less sentences

    Ian Henderson, Milton Keynes Wednesday, 20-Aug-2003 18:29:13 BST
    My Wife's grandfather was the signal engineer who was sent to inspect the signals and found the glove covering the green lamp and modifications to show red.

    Mike Gray, London,UK Wednesday, 13-Aug-2003 16:04:34 BST
    I am a close freind of Ronnie & Michael Biggs as well as organising the Free Ronnie Biggs Campaign,and i am always told by the Media,that is it right to glorify crime ?? Well, Mr John Woolley (Ex-Police Officer) seems to be doing exactly that ??? A case of double standards your honour ?

    Mark Brewer, harpenden Monday, 11-Aug-2003 08:17:42 BST
    ronnie biggs went finally to brazil, where he had plastic surgery not spain

    linda coy , bryan,ohio, USA Sunday, 10-Aug-2003 17:18:36 BST
    very interesting and intertaining, glad its history now

    Connor , Aylesbury Saturday, 09-Aug-2003 16:40:53 BST
    My nanny and grandad told me about the great train robbery and i am 8 .

    Michio HOSHINO, Matsudo-C,JAPAN Saturday, 09-Aug-2003 09:29:11 BST
    I was a guest-reasercher at C.I.T. in 1973. Today, I come across this comments. I am very happy. 40 years ago, 30years ago look like yesterday,and the day before.



    Comment on this story

    Name:

    Town:

    Email:



    The BBC reserves the right to edit comments submitted.

    line
    Top | Read This Index | Home
    READ THIS

    The Gardener's Diary

    Living: Over our heads
    More features
       
    Do that Have fun! Have your say
    CONTACT US
    BBC Beds, Herts and Bucks
    1 Hastings Street
    Luton
    LU1 5XL
    (+44) 1582 637400
    bedfordshire@bbc.co.uk
    hertfordshire@bbc.co.uk
    buckinghamshire@bbc.co.uk



    About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy