myth that the gang were Robin Hood types. They weren’t.”
Reynolds used a crooked solicitor, Brian Field, to
secure the use of a nearby farm called Leatherslade by
promising that the gang would carry out repairs. They
stayed there for two days, playing Monopoly with their
stolen loot, before the gang scattered, leaving the police,
who eventually found the deserted farmhouse, with
endless fingerprints and mugs of empty tea. It was now
just a matter of time before the robbers were brought to
justice. The money, however, was never fully accounted
for and only tiny amounts were ever recovered.
PHOTOS
GETTY
C R I M E S T O R Y
L O N D O N
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
What became of the most famous members of the Great Train Robbers’ Gang?
CHARLIE
WILSON
Another
one sentenced to 30
years, Wilson escaped,
but was arrested in
Canada four years later.
Upon release in 1979,
he moved to Spain,
where he was killed by
a hitman in 1990.
BRUCE
REYNOLDS
Spent five
years on the run,
including spells in
Canada and Mexico,
before being captured
back in Torquay, Devon,
in 1968. Sentenced to
25
years in jail, he was
released in 1979.
BUSTER
EDWARDS
Also went on
the run to Mexico, but
gave himself up in 1966
and spent nine years in
a UK prison. Afterwards,
he sold flowers outside
Waterloo Station in
London. He was found
hanged in 1994.
RONNIE
BIGGS
Sentenced
to 30 years, Biggs
escaped from prison
after just a year and
fled to Paris, where he
had plastic surgery,
and then went on to
Australia. Tracked
down by police, he
fled to Brazil, which
has no extradition
treaty with the UK. In
2001,
he voluntarily
returned to the UK
and was imprisoned
to serve his original
sentence. Due to failing
health, he was released
on compassionate
grounds in 2009.
Simply by placing a glove over the green light at a
signal and wiring a battery to illuminate the red stop-
light, they induced the diesel train to come to a halt at
Sears Crossing, about 800m from Bridego Bridge.
The robbers knew they had to move the train down to
the bridge, where the cars were waiting to unload the loot.
The plan was for one of the gang, a retired train driver, to
pilot the train himself, but – as he didn’t know how to work
this more modern type of diesel engine – the gang gave the
official driver, Jack Mills, a sharp blow to the head to coerce
him to drive the train on to Bridego instead.
Forcing their way into the High Value Package Coach of
the train, the men tied up Mills and his co-driver, and
unloaded 120 sacks of money down the embankment and
into the waiting vehicles.
“
It was actually more violent
than the myth suggests,”
says Woolley. “Jack Mills never worked again after the
blow and died just seven years later. There was always this
»
THE BIG STORY
07
A reward notice
08
The story was front-page
news
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08
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