The Great Train Robbery

The Great Train Robbery is one of the biggest robberies in British history. It involved the robbery of £2.61 million (more than £60 million in today’s money), from a Royal Mail train travelling on the West Coast Main Line. The perpetrators struck the train on 8^th August 1963 at the Bridego Railway Bridge in Buckinghamshire.

The robbery

The participants, most of which were members of the South West Gang or the South Coast Raiders, planned to intercept and rob the overnight Glasgow to London mail train. The gang’s plan was based on information from a Royal Mail security officer, who was introduced to members of the gang by Brian Field, a solicitor’s clerk.

The robbery was planned over a period of several months by a core team and took place in the early hours of 8^th August 1963. The robbers tampered with a signal light on the West Coast Main Line and just after 3 am, the train stopped at the signal. It was then that the robbers overpowered the train’s crew, while others entered the engine cabin.

The robbers moved the train half a mile along the track where they planned to unload the money. Once in position, they attacked postal workers and other train crew and removed all but 8 of the 128 sacks, which they transferred into a waiting truck by forming a human chain. From start to finish, it only took around 30 minutes to load the loot into the get away cars.

The gang then headed along minor roads listening to police broadcasts, driving for around an hour before making it to their hideout, Leatherslade Farm. They reached their destination at around the same time as the first reports of the crime began to be broadcast. On arrival, they divided up the money and made plans for their next steps. Reports came in of the police searching the nearby area, so they left the farm sooner than originally planned, leaving vital evidence behind. 

It is uncertain how much money was stolen during the robbery. The police investigation stated that it was around £2,595,997 10s though this has been disputed based on the amount that was left over.

The investigation

The first police officers arrived on the scene of the robbery at around 5am and began to take statements from the crew and postal workers. One of the robbers had instructed the staff on board not to move for half an hour, which led police to believe that they had to be lying low within around half an hour of the scene. 
The following day, Scotland Yard joined in the investigation and a major search began, ports were put on high alert and a reward was advertised. 

Five days after the robbery, police received a tip from someone using the fields adjacent to Leatherslade Farm. Police descended on the farm but found it deserted. As the robbers had left sooner than they had anticipated, there was some evidence left behind, including finger prints on a Monopoly set (it was determined that the robbers had played a couple of games using the money they had stolen.), as well as documents stating that the farm was purchased under the name of Brian Fields, the solicitor's clerk who instigated the robbery. 

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