The Great Train Robbery: Heist of the Century

Background

The 1960s were a time of change in Great Britain. After the austerity of the post-war years, the country experienced social and economic shifts that reshaped everyday life. The government implemented policies aimed at modernizing the economy, expanding the welfare state, and addressing housing shortages. But while cultural icons like The Beatles rose to global fame and new fashions like flared trousers and miniskirts emerged, many aspects of the country’s older infrastructure and institutions remained unchanged.

One of those was the Royal Mail.

Every night, a Royal Mail train made the 400-mile journey from Glasgow to London. While most of its twelve carriages were simply mobile sorting offices, one was known as the High-Value Packages coach. It was, in essence, a travelling gold mine with lax security. Ripe for the taking, for enterprising thieves. 

Planning

A professional thief named Bruce Reynolds was the mastermind behind the train robbery. A year earlier, he and his gang robbed a security van at Heathrow Airport, netting £62,000. With his eyes on an even bigger prize, he assembled a team of fifteen men, including a decorator, a shop assistant, a carpenter, a bookmaker, and even a solicitor.

You've got 15 working-class men, mostly criminals, all looking for the big payday.

Ray Rose, documentary filmmaker and true crime researcher

Pooling their resources, the gang bought an agricultural property in rural Buckinghamshire called Leatherslade Farm. The property was big enough for all fifteen men to live and contained sheds to hide the equipment needed to execute the robbery. In the weeks leading up to the heist, they planned meticulously, buying vehicles, boiler suits, and even a radio that would allow them to tune into police frequencies. They procured leather-covered truncheons in case things turned violent, though they drew the line at guns. No stone was left unturned, and by August 8th, 1963, the gang were ready to pull off the most audacious robbery in British history.

The Robbery

At approximately 3 a.m., the Royal Mail train made its way through the countryside of Buckinghamshire, an hour north of London. Spotting a red signal ahead at Sears Crossing, the driver brought the train to a stop. Concerned, the train’s fireman stepped onto the tracks to investigate. When he reached the signal box, he realised with horror, that the green light had been deliberately obscured by a glove and that the red light was fake. As he turned to warn the others, the robbers, clad in balaclavas and boiler suits, emerged from their hiding place and restrained him. When the driver came to find out what was wrong, he too was attacked. Despite a severe head injury, the robbers forced him to move the train further up the tracks towards Bridego Bridge, where they had hidden their getaway vehicles.

The robbers then made their way to the carriage containing the cash. The money was packed in large bags, which the gang quickly loaded into their waiting Land Rovers. They warned the Royal Mail workers not to call the police for thirty minutes, and then roared off into the night. Back at the farmhouse, it quickly became apparent that the amount of money in their possession far exceeded even their wildest estimations.

It ended up with 128 sacks full of money. £2.5 million to £2.6 million in 1963, which in today's money is over £50 million.

Ray Rose, documentary filmmaker and true crime researcher

Investigation

After the robbery, the gang hid out in the farmhouse. They played Monopoly and cards, or read books to pass the time. A couple of days later, chatter on the police radio confirmed that the investigation was centred around Buckinghamshire. Due to the thirty-minute time limit given to the workers, the police concluded the robbers were probably staying nearby. Spooked, the gang divided the money and disappeared. Most headed back to London to hide in plain sight; others went abroad. And not a moment too soon—a local farmhand had noticed suspicious activity at Leatherslade Farm and called the police.

The robbers had planned to return and burn the farm buildings to the ground, but the police got there first. Evidence quickly stacked up—they left their Land Rovers behind, along with money sacks from the train, proving that the gang of men who robbed the mail train had stayed there. Most damning of all, there were fingerprints everywhere. Thanks to the relatively new science of fingerprinting, the police identified 80% of the robbers within a week.

Roger Cordry was the first man arrested. After that, the House of Cards collapsed. Eleven of the men were eventually apprehended, including the leader, Bruce Reynolds, in 1968. The newspapers had a field day, splashing pictures of the robbers’ capture across their front pages. Before long, prosecutors were ready for what was shaping up to be one of the trials of the decade. Though they didn’t manage to convict everyone, many of the gang members were given prison terms of between twenty and thirty years.

Those still on the run went to great lengths to remain elusive. They repeatedly changed their names and locations; some even went under the knife in an effort to alter their appearance. Ronnie Biggs, perhaps the best-known of the robbers, fled first to France and then to South America. He stayed there until 2001, when he finally gave himself up and returned to the UK.

Incredibly, three of the men involved remain on the lam to this day. Their identities are still unknown. 

Part of the reason the Great Train Robbery story is enduring and endearing is that there is still this mystique of the three who got away.

Ray Rose, documentary filmmaker and true crime researcher

Legacy

As time passed, the tale of the Great Train Robbery became, to many, a story of ordinary men getting one up on the establishment. People like Ronnie Biggs and Bruce Reynolds became something akin to folk heroes; their antics reported with a combination of mock outrage and glee. Though it shocked the nation at the time, the heist has gained a mythology of its own, and with its proceeds valued at more than £50 million today, it remains one of the biggest robberies in history.