Heists & Robberies
great Train Robbery 1963
The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.6 million from a Royal Mail train heading from Glasgow to London in the early hours of Thursday, 8 August 1963, at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England.
But What happened to the great train robbers?
The Train Robbers are now mostly dead, with only one of the known robbers still alive, Bob Welch, following the death of Goody on 29 January 2016 and Tommy Wisbey on December 30, 2016. In later years, the robbers generally came together only for the funerals of their fellow gang members. At Wilson's funeral on 10 May 1990, several attended, Bruce Reynolds saw Roy James (who got into a verbal argument with the press), Edwards, Welch (hobbling on crutches) and White (who went unnoticed most due to his ability to blend into the background). However at Edwards' funeral in 1994, Reynolds saw only Welch (Hussey, Wisbey and James were all in prison at the time).
At Reynolds' own funeral, only Welch and Biggs attended, both in wheelchairs, although a statement was read out on behalf of Gordon Goody.
Brian Field
After being sentenced on 16 April 1964, Field served four years of his five-year sentence. He was released in 1967. While he was in prison, his wife Karin divorced him and married a German journalist. Karin wrote an article for the German magazine Stern. She confirmed that she took Roy James to Thame railway station so he could go to London and that she led a convoy of two vans back to "Kabri", where the gang were joined by wives and girlfriends for a big party to celebrate the crime. When Reynolds returned to Great Britain in 1968, he tried to contact Field as this was the only way he could get in touch with the "Ulsterman". It seems that Field was ambushed upon his release from prison by a recently released convict, "Scotch Jack" Buggy, who presumably roughed up or even tortured Field with a view to extorting some of the loot from the robbery. Subsequently, Field went to ground and Buggy was killed shortly after. Reynolds gave up trying to find Field.
Field changed his name to Brian Carlton to disappear. Sometime after his release from prison he married Sian, from Wales. In the mid/late 1970s they worked for the Children's Book Centre (since sold) in Kensington High Street in London. Field and his wife Sian were responsible for the company's operations in central and southern Europe, to where they shipped English language books and held book fairs at international English schools. Field, aged 44, and Sian, aged 28, died in a car crash on the M4 motorway on 27 April 1979, a year after the last of the robbers had completed their sentences. The accident occurred as they returned from a visit to Sian's parents in Wales. A Mercedes driven by the pregnant 28-year-old daughter of well-known hairdresser Raymond Bessone (Mr Teasy Weasy) crossed a damaged section of the guard rail and slammed into Field's oncoming Porsche. The Fields, Teasy Weasy's daughter, her husband and two children were killed instantly. It was several weeks after the accident that Field's true identity was discovered. It is not clear whether his wife Sian ever knew of his past.
Charlie Wilson
The last of the robbers released, (after serving about one-third of his sentence) Wilson returned to a life of crime was found shot dead at his villa in Marbella, Spain, on 24 April 1990. His murder was thought to be related to suspected cheating in drug-dealing activity. He is buried in Streatham Cemetery.
Buster Edwards
After he was released, he became a flower seller outside Waterloo Station. His story was dramatised in the 1988 film Buster, with Phil Collins in the title role. Edwards died in a garage in November 1994, allegedly committing suicide by hanging himself. His family continued to run the flower stall after his death.
Roy James
went back to motor racing following his release on 15 August 1975. However, he crashed several cars, his chances of becoming a driver quickly faded. After the failure of his sporting career, he returned to his trade as a silversmith. He produced the trophy given to Formula One promoters each year thanks to his acquaintance with Bernie Ecclestone. In 1982, he married a younger woman, but the marriage soon broke down. By 1983, James and Charlie Wilson had become involved in an attempt to import gold without paying excise duty. James was acquitted in January 1984 for his part in the swindle. In 1993, he shot and wounded his father in-law, pistol-whipped and partially strangled his ex-wife, after they had returned their children for a day's outing. He was sentenced to six years in jail. In 1996, James underwent triple-bypass surgery and was subsequently released from prison in 1997, only to die almost immediately afterwards on 21 August after another heart attack. He was the fifth member of the gang to die, despite being the youngest.
Roger Cordrey
was the first of the robbers released, but his share of the theft had almost entirely been recovered by the police. He went back to being a florist at his sister's business upon his release. He is now dead, and his son Tony has publicly acknowledged his dad confirmed that Bill Boal was innocent of any involvement in the robbery.
Bruce Reynolds
The last of the robbers to be caught, was released from prison on 6 June 1978 after serving 10 years. Reynolds, then aged 47, was helped by Gordon Goody to get back on his feet, before Goody departed for Spain. By October 1978, day-release ended and he had to report to a parole officer. Frank Monroe, one of the three robbers who was never caught, temporarily gave Reynolds a job, but did not want to attract undue attention by employing him for too long. Reynolds later got back together with his wife Angela and son Nicholas. He was arrested in 1983 for drug-related offences (Reynolds denied having any involvement). He was released again in March 1985 and dedicated himself to helping his wife recover from a mental breakdown. In 2001, he and his son Nicholas travelled with reporters from The Sun newspaper to take Biggs back to Britain. In 2010, he wrote the afterword for Signal Red, Robert Ryan's novel based on the robbery, and he regularly commented on the robbery. He died in his sleep, aged 81, on 28 February 2013.
John Daly
Upon his acquittal and release, and after finding his share of the loot stolen and/or destroyed, Daly gave up his life of crime and went "straight". He and his wife Barbara and their three children moved to Cornwall, where he worked as a street sweeper until the age of 70, known to the locals as Gentleman John or John the Gent. Daly told no one about the robbery as he was told he could face a retrial. He died 6 weeks after his brother in law Reynolds.
Ronnie Biggs
On 6 August 2009, Biggs was granted release from prison on "compassionate grounds", due to a severe case of pneumonia and other ongoing health problems. In 2011 he updated his autobiography, Odd Man Out: The Last Straw. Having suffered a series of strokes after his release, and unable to speak for the previous three years, Biggs died at the Carlton Court Care home, London on 18 December 2013.
Tommy Wisbey
was luckier than most of the others, in that his loot had been entrusted to his brothers, and when he emerged, he had a house in South London and a few other investments to keep him going. Unfortunately, during his prison stint, his daughter Lorraine had died in a car accident. He took a while to learn how to live harmoniously with his wife Rene (his daughter Marilyn having moved out upon his return). Shortly after his release, Wisbey was imprisoned on remand over a swindle involving travellers' cheques. The judge acknowledged the minor nature of his role. He died 30th December 2016 after suffering a stroke.
Jim Hussey
He was released on 17 November 1975 and married girlfriend Gill (whom he had met just before the robbery). Hussey's share of the loot had been entrusted to a friend of Frank Monroe who squandered it despite Monroeperiodically checking on its keeper.
Wisbey and James Hussey fell back into crime and were jailed in 1989 for cocaine dealing, with Wisbey sentenced to ten years and Hussey to seven years. In her book Gangster's Moll, Marilyn Wisbey recounts that on 8 June 1988, after returning home from a visit to an abortion clinic and lying down for a nap they were raided by the Drugs Squad. Her parents were staying with her and her son Jonathan while their tenants moved out of their house (they had been away on a long trip to the USA). The raid uncovered 1 kg of cocaine and Rene and Marilyn Wisbey were arrested along with Jimmy Hussey, who had been spotted accepting a package from Wisbey in a park. Wisbey himself was captured a year later in Wilmslow, Cheshire. He was allegedly staying with another woman, to the shock of his wife and daughter. In return for Hussey and Wisbey pleading guilty, the two women were unconditionally freed. Upon their release from prison, both men retired from work.
Wisbey later explained: "We were against drugs all our lives, but as the years went on, towards the end of the '70s, it became more and more the 'in' thing. Being involved in the Great Train Robbery, our name was good. They knew we had never grassed anyone, we had done our time without putting anyone else in the frame". On 26 July 1989, the two men pleaded guilty and admitted at Snaresbrook Crown Court, London that they were a part of a £500,000 cocaine trafficking ring. Wisbey's grandson has also had trouble with the law in Cyprus.
Bob Welch
He was released on 14 June 1976. He was the last of those convicted in Aylesbury to be released. Welch moved back in with his wife June and his son. He threatened the man left in charge of his share of the theft to retrieve the remainder. A leg injury sustained in prison forced him to undergo several operations, which left him semi-crippled.
Douglas (Gordon) Goody
He was released from prison on 23 December 1975, aged 46 years old and went to live with his ill mother in her small cottage in Putney. Unlike the other robbers, he was exceptionally lucky in that the man he left in charge of his affairs was loyal and successful so he was able to live a relatively well-off life. In his final years of incarceration Goody had taken full benefit of the newly established education college at Wormwood Scrubbs and studied Spanish to GCE standard.
He later moved to Mojacar, southern Spain, where he bought property and a bar and settled down, believing it safer to be out of the United Kingdom. He was at one point accused of cannabis smuggling but ultimately cleared. He continued to reside in Mojacar until his death following an illness on 29 January 2016.
The Ones Who Got Away
While there has been a lot of mystery surrounding several of the gang who were not imprisoned, in reality the police knew almost the entire gang almost instantly. By 29 August 1963 Commander Hatherill had 14 names already, and told police that Brian Field had tried to enlist another gang to rob the train, who turned him down, before Hatherill's list was unerringly accurate — all the major gang members were later jailed were identified, except Ronnie Biggs. With the exception of the minor accomplices Lennie Field, Bill Boal and the train driver, the list was complete, although of course the Ulsterman was not identified. In terms of the ones who got away, there were four others identified — Henry Smith, Dennis Pembroke, a fair haired man (25 years old — well spoken, not named) and a Nondescript man (not named but may be Jimmy Collins).
Both Piers Paul Read, and later Bruce Reynolds refer to three robbers who got away as Bill Jennings, Alf Thomas and Frank Monroe.
Piers Paul Read refers to this man as Bill Jennings in The Train Robbers, while Bruce Reynolds adds a nickname - Flossy. Ronnie Biggs refers to him as Mr One, as do other accounts. According to Bruce Reynolds, 'Flossy had no previous convictions and stayed well out of contact with the group. A shadowy figure, nobody knew exactly where he lived — or even what his real name was. All we knew that he was one hundred per cent, and was sure to last out the hullabaloo. The last report of him said that he was in a safe house, banged up with two gorgeous girls and enough champagne to sink a battleship'
It is clear that while Reynolds claims to not have known his real name, that 'Flossy' was not just a participant in the Great Train Robbery, he was a core part of the gang who participated in the London Airport robbery. This robbery was the audacious raid that Gordon Goody and Charlie Wilson were acquitted of. That raid consisted of Roy James and Mickey Ball as the getaway drivers, with six robbers — Bruce Reynolds, Buster Edwards, Gordon Goody, Charlie Wilson, Flossy (and a sixth man who did not participate in the train robbery). In the end the only one caught after the airport raid was Mickey Ball, who pleaded guilty to being a getaway driver when a witness mistook him for Flossy, and to avoid being blamed for the actual violence he agreed to plead guilty as an accomplice, and was in prison during the Great Train Robbery.
It is alleged that Henry Thomas 'Harry' Smith (Born 20 October 1930) was Flossy and unlike most other robbers, actually got to spend his share of the loot, buying 28 houses and also a hotel and drinking club in Portsmouth. Smith died in 2008. Smith was the only man not ultimately arrested that was on both the Hatherill list, and Tommy Butler's list.
Alf Thomas is alleged to have been a South Coast Raider, but is said by Piers Paul Read to have been introduced by Jimmy White, which may have been true or a diversion by the robbers that told Read their story. The man is sometimes referred to as Mr Two or Mr Three, depending on the account. Ronnie Biggs refers to him as Mr Three and notes several times that he is the biggest of the gang, and the one who stormed the cab to subdue the driver.
It is alleged that the man referred to as Alf Thomas is Dennis (Danny) Pembroke. Following the robbery, Pembroke is said to have turned his back on crime and lived quietly in Kent, working as a cab driver. He died aged 79 from a heart attack, at home and in his sleep on 28 February 2015. Pembroke had five children, and his son Danny Jnr, said his father had never spoken about the Great Train Robbery. Certainly he showed no signs of increased wealth afterwards, but as he allegedly gave up £47,245 of the money as part of a deal with Frank Williams, 1/3 of his share was already lost.
On 6 September 1963, Flying Squad officers DCI Williams and Det Sgt Jack Slipper search Pembroke's house, but nothing incriminating was found and he was extensively interrogated and his prints taken. Samples of his pubic hair were taken to compare with those found in sleeping bags at Leatherslade Farm, but there was no match. The Flying Squad could therefore never prove that Danny Pembroke was one of the robbers as no forensic evidence linked him to the crime scene or the farm. After release, he went to the Devon village of Beaford with Welch with three others where locals became suspicious at the amount of £5 notes they were spending.
Frank Monroe
According to Bruce Reynolds, Monroe, who was never caught, worked as a film stunt man for a while before starting a paper and scrap metal recycling business.
The Replacement Train Driver AKA Pops/Dad AKA Peter AKA Stan Agate was never caught, and never suspected of even existing by police, due to the fact that Jack Mills in the end had to drive the train. He also never profited from the crime - Ronnie Biggs never paid him his £20,000 "drink". The driver, of course, was not a member of the gang (as defined by receiving an equal share), just an accomplice.
Piers Paul Read called the replacement train driver 'Stan Agate', and Stan was apparently the true nickname of the replacement driver. Read, concerned that the robbers may have hurt him, went to see Ronnie Biggs in Brazil to get his details, although was dismayed to find that Biggs did not know his last name and knew and cared very little about him. With the meagre details provided, Read used a detective agency to track down the driver at a town 20 miles south of London, and found that he was still alive, although somewhat senile and being cared for by his wife. The wife admitted that she had burnt all the clothes that he had worn that night, and had nervously waited for either the gang to murder him or the police to arrest him. Read promised not to reveal their identities. Unlike the other three members of the gang who got away, Peta Fordham does make mention of the replacement driver, but notes that he is said now to be dead, perhaps the robbers who provided material for the book did not want the police looking for him, as at the time of publishing (1965) Reynolds, White and Edwards will still on the run.
Ronnie Biggs, in his 1994 autobiography, Odd Man Out, said that Bruce Reynolds offered him a chance to join the gang, if he could find a train driver. Biggs was renewing the front windows of a train drivers' house in Redhill, who he calls 'Peter' (and who he believes to be dead by 1994). Ronnie offers him a £40,000 share of the profits, and tells Reynolds and gives his address John Daly who then proceeds to check him out. It seems that while he was an older man, he still had to apply for two weeks leave of absence from his job. According to Biggs, 'Peter' was paid his £40,000 'drink', although other accounts claim otherwise. Biggs states that Mary Manson drove 'Peter' and John Daly home, while Reynolds drove Biggs home.
It is alleged in The Sun that the replacement train driver was Peter Stevens.
Accomplices
John Wheater was released from prison on 11 February 1966 and managed his family's laundry business in Harrogate. He later wrote two articles in the Sunday Telegraph, who published the first one on 6 March 1966.
Lenny Field was released in 1967 and went to live in North London. He disappeared from the public eye.
The replacement train driver was never found. He had no criminal record and in the end Mills drove the train, with police having no reason to suspect the other's involvement.
Mary Manson, an associate of Bruce Reynolds and John Daly, was charged with receiving £820 from the robbery; she was held for six weeks but was released. Mary took care of wives and children of some of the robbers while they were on the run or in jail.
But What happened to the great train robbers?
The Train Robbers are now mostly dead, with only one of the known robbers still alive, Bob Welch, following the death of Goody on 29 January 2016 and Tommy Wisbey on December 30, 2016. In later years, the robbers generally came together only for the funerals of their fellow gang members. At Wilson's funeral on 10 May 1990, several attended, Bruce Reynolds saw Roy James (who got into a verbal argument with the press), Edwards, Welch (hobbling on crutches) and White (who went unnoticed most due to his ability to blend into the background). However at Edwards' funeral in 1994, Reynolds saw only Welch (Hussey, Wisbey and James were all in prison at the time).
At Reynolds' own funeral, only Welch and Biggs attended, both in wheelchairs, although a statement was read out on behalf of Gordon Goody.
Brian Field
After being sentenced on 16 April 1964, Field served four years of his five-year sentence. He was released in 1967. While he was in prison, his wife Karin divorced him and married a German journalist. Karin wrote an article for the German magazine Stern. She confirmed that she took Roy James to Thame railway station so he could go to London and that she led a convoy of two vans back to "Kabri", where the gang were joined by wives and girlfriends for a big party to celebrate the crime. When Reynolds returned to Great Britain in 1968, he tried to contact Field as this was the only way he could get in touch with the "Ulsterman". It seems that Field was ambushed upon his release from prison by a recently released convict, "Scotch Jack" Buggy, who presumably roughed up or even tortured Field with a view to extorting some of the loot from the robbery. Subsequently, Field went to ground and Buggy was killed shortly after. Reynolds gave up trying to find Field.
Field changed his name to Brian Carlton to disappear. Sometime after his release from prison he married Sian, from Wales. In the mid/late 1970s they worked for the Children's Book Centre (since sold) in Kensington High Street in London. Field and his wife Sian were responsible for the company's operations in central and southern Europe, to where they shipped English language books and held book fairs at international English schools. Field, aged 44, and Sian, aged 28, died in a car crash on the M4 motorway on 27 April 1979, a year after the last of the robbers had completed their sentences. The accident occurred as they returned from a visit to Sian's parents in Wales. A Mercedes driven by the pregnant 28-year-old daughter of well-known hairdresser Raymond Bessone (Mr Teasy Weasy) crossed a damaged section of the guard rail and slammed into Field's oncoming Porsche. The Fields, Teasy Weasy's daughter, her husband and two children were killed instantly. It was several weeks after the accident that Field's true identity was discovered. It is not clear whether his wife Sian ever knew of his past.
Charlie Wilson
The last of the robbers released, (after serving about one-third of his sentence) Wilson returned to a life of crime was found shot dead at his villa in Marbella, Spain, on 24 April 1990. His murder was thought to be related to suspected cheating in drug-dealing activity. He is buried in Streatham Cemetery.
Buster Edwards
After he was released, he became a flower seller outside Waterloo Station. His story was dramatised in the 1988 film Buster, with Phil Collins in the title role. Edwards died in a garage in November 1994, allegedly committing suicide by hanging himself. His family continued to run the flower stall after his death.
Roy James
went back to motor racing following his release on 15 August 1975. However, he crashed several cars, his chances of becoming a driver quickly faded. After the failure of his sporting career, he returned to his trade as a silversmith. He produced the trophy given to Formula One promoters each year thanks to his acquaintance with Bernie Ecclestone. In 1982, he married a younger woman, but the marriage soon broke down. By 1983, James and Charlie Wilson had become involved in an attempt to import gold without paying excise duty. James was acquitted in January 1984 for his part in the swindle. In 1993, he shot and wounded his father in-law, pistol-whipped and partially strangled his ex-wife, after they had returned their children for a day's outing. He was sentenced to six years in jail. In 1996, James underwent triple-bypass surgery and was subsequently released from prison in 1997, only to die almost immediately afterwards on 21 August after another heart attack. He was the fifth member of the gang to die, despite being the youngest.
Roger Cordrey
was the first of the robbers released, but his share of the theft had almost entirely been recovered by the police. He went back to being a florist at his sister's business upon his release. He is now dead, and his son Tony has publicly acknowledged his dad confirmed that Bill Boal was innocent of any involvement in the robbery.
Bruce Reynolds
The last of the robbers to be caught, was released from prison on 6 June 1978 after serving 10 years. Reynolds, then aged 47, was helped by Gordon Goody to get back on his feet, before Goody departed for Spain. By October 1978, day-release ended and he had to report to a parole officer. Frank Monroe, one of the three robbers who was never caught, temporarily gave Reynolds a job, but did not want to attract undue attention by employing him for too long. Reynolds later got back together with his wife Angela and son Nicholas. He was arrested in 1983 for drug-related offences (Reynolds denied having any involvement). He was released again in March 1985 and dedicated himself to helping his wife recover from a mental breakdown. In 2001, he and his son Nicholas travelled with reporters from The Sun newspaper to take Biggs back to Britain. In 2010, he wrote the afterword for Signal Red, Robert Ryan's novel based on the robbery, and he regularly commented on the robbery. He died in his sleep, aged 81, on 28 February 2013.
John Daly
Upon his acquittal and release, and after finding his share of the loot stolen and/or destroyed, Daly gave up his life of crime and went "straight". He and his wife Barbara and their three children moved to Cornwall, where he worked as a street sweeper until the age of 70, known to the locals as Gentleman John or John the Gent. Daly told no one about the robbery as he was told he could face a retrial. He died 6 weeks after his brother in law Reynolds.
Ronnie Biggs
On 6 August 2009, Biggs was granted release from prison on "compassionate grounds", due to a severe case of pneumonia and other ongoing health problems. In 2011 he updated his autobiography, Odd Man Out: The Last Straw. Having suffered a series of strokes after his release, and unable to speak for the previous three years, Biggs died at the Carlton Court Care home, London on 18 December 2013.
Tommy Wisbey
was luckier than most of the others, in that his loot had been entrusted to his brothers, and when he emerged, he had a house in South London and a few other investments to keep him going. Unfortunately, during his prison stint, his daughter Lorraine had died in a car accident. He took a while to learn how to live harmoniously with his wife Rene (his daughter Marilyn having moved out upon his return). Shortly after his release, Wisbey was imprisoned on remand over a swindle involving travellers' cheques. The judge acknowledged the minor nature of his role. He died 30th December 2016 after suffering a stroke.
Jim Hussey
He was released on 17 November 1975 and married girlfriend Gill (whom he had met just before the robbery). Hussey's share of the loot had been entrusted to a friend of Frank Monroe who squandered it despite Monroeperiodically checking on its keeper.
Wisbey and James Hussey fell back into crime and were jailed in 1989 for cocaine dealing, with Wisbey sentenced to ten years and Hussey to seven years. In her book Gangster's Moll, Marilyn Wisbey recounts that on 8 June 1988, after returning home from a visit to an abortion clinic and lying down for a nap they were raided by the Drugs Squad. Her parents were staying with her and her son Jonathan while their tenants moved out of their house (they had been away on a long trip to the USA). The raid uncovered 1 kg of cocaine and Rene and Marilyn Wisbey were arrested along with Jimmy Hussey, who had been spotted accepting a package from Wisbey in a park. Wisbey himself was captured a year later in Wilmslow, Cheshire. He was allegedly staying with another woman, to the shock of his wife and daughter. In return for Hussey and Wisbey pleading guilty, the two women were unconditionally freed. Upon their release from prison, both men retired from work.
Wisbey later explained: "We were against drugs all our lives, but as the years went on, towards the end of the '70s, it became more and more the 'in' thing. Being involved in the Great Train Robbery, our name was good. They knew we had never grassed anyone, we had done our time without putting anyone else in the frame". On 26 July 1989, the two men pleaded guilty and admitted at Snaresbrook Crown Court, London that they were a part of a £500,000 cocaine trafficking ring. Wisbey's grandson has also had trouble with the law in Cyprus.
Bob Welch
He was released on 14 June 1976. He was the last of those convicted in Aylesbury to be released. Welch moved back in with his wife June and his son. He threatened the man left in charge of his share of the theft to retrieve the remainder. A leg injury sustained in prison forced him to undergo several operations, which left him semi-crippled.
Douglas (Gordon) Goody
He was released from prison on 23 December 1975, aged 46 years old and went to live with his ill mother in her small cottage in Putney. Unlike the other robbers, he was exceptionally lucky in that the man he left in charge of his affairs was loyal and successful so he was able to live a relatively well-off life. In his final years of incarceration Goody had taken full benefit of the newly established education college at Wormwood Scrubbs and studied Spanish to GCE standard.
He later moved to Mojacar, southern Spain, where he bought property and a bar and settled down, believing it safer to be out of the United Kingdom. He was at one point accused of cannabis smuggling but ultimately cleared. He continued to reside in Mojacar until his death following an illness on 29 January 2016.
The Ones Who Got Away
While there has been a lot of mystery surrounding several of the gang who were not imprisoned, in reality the police knew almost the entire gang almost instantly. By 29 August 1963 Commander Hatherill had 14 names already, and told police that Brian Field had tried to enlist another gang to rob the train, who turned him down, before Hatherill's list was unerringly accurate — all the major gang members were later jailed were identified, except Ronnie Biggs. With the exception of the minor accomplices Lennie Field, Bill Boal and the train driver, the list was complete, although of course the Ulsterman was not identified. In terms of the ones who got away, there were four others identified — Henry Smith, Dennis Pembroke, a fair haired man (25 years old — well spoken, not named) and a Nondescript man (not named but may be Jimmy Collins).
Both Piers Paul Read, and later Bruce Reynolds refer to three robbers who got away as Bill Jennings, Alf Thomas and Frank Monroe.
Piers Paul Read refers to this man as Bill Jennings in The Train Robbers, while Bruce Reynolds adds a nickname - Flossy. Ronnie Biggs refers to him as Mr One, as do other accounts. According to Bruce Reynolds, 'Flossy had no previous convictions and stayed well out of contact with the group. A shadowy figure, nobody knew exactly where he lived — or even what his real name was. All we knew that he was one hundred per cent, and was sure to last out the hullabaloo. The last report of him said that he was in a safe house, banged up with two gorgeous girls and enough champagne to sink a battleship'
It is clear that while Reynolds claims to not have known his real name, that 'Flossy' was not just a participant in the Great Train Robbery, he was a core part of the gang who participated in the London Airport robbery. This robbery was the audacious raid that Gordon Goody and Charlie Wilson were acquitted of. That raid consisted of Roy James and Mickey Ball as the getaway drivers, with six robbers — Bruce Reynolds, Buster Edwards, Gordon Goody, Charlie Wilson, Flossy (and a sixth man who did not participate in the train robbery). In the end the only one caught after the airport raid was Mickey Ball, who pleaded guilty to being a getaway driver when a witness mistook him for Flossy, and to avoid being blamed for the actual violence he agreed to plead guilty as an accomplice, and was in prison during the Great Train Robbery.
It is alleged that Henry Thomas 'Harry' Smith (Born 20 October 1930) was Flossy and unlike most other robbers, actually got to spend his share of the loot, buying 28 houses and also a hotel and drinking club in Portsmouth. Smith died in 2008. Smith was the only man not ultimately arrested that was on both the Hatherill list, and Tommy Butler's list.
Alf Thomas is alleged to have been a South Coast Raider, but is said by Piers Paul Read to have been introduced by Jimmy White, which may have been true or a diversion by the robbers that told Read their story. The man is sometimes referred to as Mr Two or Mr Three, depending on the account. Ronnie Biggs refers to him as Mr Three and notes several times that he is the biggest of the gang, and the one who stormed the cab to subdue the driver.
It is alleged that the man referred to as Alf Thomas is Dennis (Danny) Pembroke. Following the robbery, Pembroke is said to have turned his back on crime and lived quietly in Kent, working as a cab driver. He died aged 79 from a heart attack, at home and in his sleep on 28 February 2015. Pembroke had five children, and his son Danny Jnr, said his father had never spoken about the Great Train Robbery. Certainly he showed no signs of increased wealth afterwards, but as he allegedly gave up £47,245 of the money as part of a deal with Frank Williams, 1/3 of his share was already lost.
On 6 September 1963, Flying Squad officers DCI Williams and Det Sgt Jack Slipper search Pembroke's house, but nothing incriminating was found and he was extensively interrogated and his prints taken. Samples of his pubic hair were taken to compare with those found in sleeping bags at Leatherslade Farm, but there was no match. The Flying Squad could therefore never prove that Danny Pembroke was one of the robbers as no forensic evidence linked him to the crime scene or the farm. After release, he went to the Devon village of Beaford with Welch with three others where locals became suspicious at the amount of £5 notes they were spending.
Frank Monroe
According to Bruce Reynolds, Monroe, who was never caught, worked as a film stunt man for a while before starting a paper and scrap metal recycling business.
The Replacement Train Driver AKA Pops/Dad AKA Peter AKA Stan Agate was never caught, and never suspected of even existing by police, due to the fact that Jack Mills in the end had to drive the train. He also never profited from the crime - Ronnie Biggs never paid him his £20,000 "drink". The driver, of course, was not a member of the gang (as defined by receiving an equal share), just an accomplice.
Piers Paul Read called the replacement train driver 'Stan Agate', and Stan was apparently the true nickname of the replacement driver. Read, concerned that the robbers may have hurt him, went to see Ronnie Biggs in Brazil to get his details, although was dismayed to find that Biggs did not know his last name and knew and cared very little about him. With the meagre details provided, Read used a detective agency to track down the driver at a town 20 miles south of London, and found that he was still alive, although somewhat senile and being cared for by his wife. The wife admitted that she had burnt all the clothes that he had worn that night, and had nervously waited for either the gang to murder him or the police to arrest him. Read promised not to reveal their identities. Unlike the other three members of the gang who got away, Peta Fordham does make mention of the replacement driver, but notes that he is said now to be dead, perhaps the robbers who provided material for the book did not want the police looking for him, as at the time of publishing (1965) Reynolds, White and Edwards will still on the run.
Ronnie Biggs, in his 1994 autobiography, Odd Man Out, said that Bruce Reynolds offered him a chance to join the gang, if he could find a train driver. Biggs was renewing the front windows of a train drivers' house in Redhill, who he calls 'Peter' (and who he believes to be dead by 1994). Ronnie offers him a £40,000 share of the profits, and tells Reynolds and gives his address John Daly who then proceeds to check him out. It seems that while he was an older man, he still had to apply for two weeks leave of absence from his job. According to Biggs, 'Peter' was paid his £40,000 'drink', although other accounts claim otherwise. Biggs states that Mary Manson drove 'Peter' and John Daly home, while Reynolds drove Biggs home.
It is alleged in The Sun that the replacement train driver was Peter Stevens.
Accomplices
John Wheater was released from prison on 11 February 1966 and managed his family's laundry business in Harrogate. He later wrote two articles in the Sunday Telegraph, who published the first one on 6 March 1966.
Lenny Field was released in 1967 and went to live in North London. He disappeared from the public eye.
The replacement train driver was never found. He had no criminal record and in the end Mills drove the train, with police having no reason to suspect the other's involvement.
Mary Manson, an associate of Bruce Reynolds and John Daly, was charged with receiving £820 from the robbery; she was held for six weeks but was released. Mary took care of wives and children of some of the robbers while they were on the run or in jail.
the baker street robbery 1971
The Baker Street robbery was the burglary of the safe deposit boxes at the Baker Street, London branch of Lloyds Bank, on the night of 11 September 1971.
The robbers had rented the leather goods shop Le Sac, two doors north of the bank, and tunnelled a distance of approximately 50 feet (15 m) passing under the intervening Chicken Inn restaurant. To avoid being overheard, they only dug during weekends. They initially used a thermal lance to try to break into the vault but ultimately had to use explosives.
Robert Rowlands was a ham radio operator who lived in a fifth floor flat on Wimpole Street. He overheard conversations between the robbers and their rooftop lookout at 11:15 pm. He contacted local police, who did not take him seriously but suggested that he tape record the conversations while the robbery was in progress. There was however insufficient information to identify which bank was being robbed.
At 1 am, Rowlands contacted Scotland Yard, who immediately sent officers to his flat in Wimpole Street.
At 2 am, a senior police officer alerted radio detector vans to track down the gang's exact location. Police checked the 750 banks within 10 miles of Rowlands' receiver, including the Baker Street bank. At the time, the thieves were still in the vaults but the police failed to realise this because the security door was still locked. The thieves got away with £1.5m cash (2010: £16.5m) and valuables from over 260 safe deposit boxes. The total haul was believed to be near £3m (2010: £33.1m).
The robbers left a cheeky message on a wall: 'Let's see how Sherlock Holmes solves this one'.
It has often been reported that after four days of news coverage British authorities issued a D-Notice, requesting that such reporting be discontinued for reasons of national security and the story disappeared from newspapers. It is claimed by national newspapers in recent years, that some of the security boxes contained embarrassing or nationally sensitive material namely compromising sexual photographs of Queen Elizabeth II's sister, the late Princess Margaret, and that the purpose of the request was thus to protect the British Royal Family.
Rowlands, the aforementioned ham radio operator, claims that the police attempted to prevent him from talking to the press by means of the D-Notice, which he felt was an attempt to hide police incompetence. He also claims that police threatened to prosecute him for listening to an unlicensed radio station. An investigation some years later showed that a request had never been made to the D-Notice committee at that time. Furthermore, a D-Notice has no legal status, being a mere request and not a legally enforceable order. The Times newspaper was still reporting about the case over two months later.
Other recent reports suggest that the identity of the criminals and their sentences have never been revealed. However, The Times (amongst other newspapers) reported in January 1973 that four men had been convicted of the robbery at a trial at the Old Bailey. Three of these men were named as: Anthony Gavin, 38, a photographer from Brownlow Road in Dalston; Thomas Gray Stephens, 35, a car dealer from Maygood Street in Islington; and Reginald Samuel Tucker, 37, a company director from Lee Street in Hackney, who all pleaded guilty and who each received twelve years imprisonment. The fourth man, Benjamin Wolfe, 66, a leather goods dealer from Dovercourt Road in East Dulwich, pleaded not guilty but was subsequently convicted and received eight years. Wolfe had signed the lease on the shop used by the robbers using his own name.
Two other men accused of handling banknotes from the robbery were acquitted. According to one press report, the police believed that the mastermind of the crime was another London car dealer who was never apprehended. Thomas Stephens and Reg Tucker had sentences reduced to eight years on appeal.
The robbers had rented the leather goods shop Le Sac, two doors north of the bank, and tunnelled a distance of approximately 50 feet (15 m) passing under the intervening Chicken Inn restaurant. To avoid being overheard, they only dug during weekends. They initially used a thermal lance to try to break into the vault but ultimately had to use explosives.
Robert Rowlands was a ham radio operator who lived in a fifth floor flat on Wimpole Street. He overheard conversations between the robbers and their rooftop lookout at 11:15 pm. He contacted local police, who did not take him seriously but suggested that he tape record the conversations while the robbery was in progress. There was however insufficient information to identify which bank was being robbed.
At 1 am, Rowlands contacted Scotland Yard, who immediately sent officers to his flat in Wimpole Street.
At 2 am, a senior police officer alerted radio detector vans to track down the gang's exact location. Police checked the 750 banks within 10 miles of Rowlands' receiver, including the Baker Street bank. At the time, the thieves were still in the vaults but the police failed to realise this because the security door was still locked. The thieves got away with £1.5m cash (2010: £16.5m) and valuables from over 260 safe deposit boxes. The total haul was believed to be near £3m (2010: £33.1m).
The robbers left a cheeky message on a wall: 'Let's see how Sherlock Holmes solves this one'.
It has often been reported that after four days of news coverage British authorities issued a D-Notice, requesting that such reporting be discontinued for reasons of national security and the story disappeared from newspapers. It is claimed by national newspapers in recent years, that some of the security boxes contained embarrassing or nationally sensitive material namely compromising sexual photographs of Queen Elizabeth II's sister, the late Princess Margaret, and that the purpose of the request was thus to protect the British Royal Family.
Rowlands, the aforementioned ham radio operator, claims that the police attempted to prevent him from talking to the press by means of the D-Notice, which he felt was an attempt to hide police incompetence. He also claims that police threatened to prosecute him for listening to an unlicensed radio station. An investigation some years later showed that a request had never been made to the D-Notice committee at that time. Furthermore, a D-Notice has no legal status, being a mere request and not a legally enforceable order. The Times newspaper was still reporting about the case over two months later.
Other recent reports suggest that the identity of the criminals and their sentences have never been revealed. However, The Times (amongst other newspapers) reported in January 1973 that four men had been convicted of the robbery at a trial at the Old Bailey. Three of these men were named as: Anthony Gavin, 38, a photographer from Brownlow Road in Dalston; Thomas Gray Stephens, 35, a car dealer from Maygood Street in Islington; and Reginald Samuel Tucker, 37, a company director from Lee Street in Hackney, who all pleaded guilty and who each received twelve years imprisonment. The fourth man, Benjamin Wolfe, 66, a leather goods dealer from Dovercourt Road in East Dulwich, pleaded not guilty but was subsequently convicted and received eight years. Wolfe had signed the lease on the shop used by the robbers using his own name.
Two other men accused of handling banknotes from the robbery were acquitted. According to one press report, the police believed that the mastermind of the crime was another London car dealer who was never apprehended. Thomas Stephens and Reg Tucker had sentences reduced to eight years on appeal.
hatton garden heisT 2015
Hatton garden
In April 2015, the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company, an underground safe deposit facility in London's Hatton Garden area, was burgled. The total stolen may have a value of up to £200 million, the incident has been called the "largest burglary in English legal history."
The heist was planned and carried out by four elderly men who were experienced thieves, all of whom pleaded guilty and received prison sentences in March 2016. Four other men were also tried on suspicion of involvement; three were found guilty and sent to prison, while the fourth was cleared.
In April 2015, the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company, an underground safe deposit facility in London's Hatton Garden area, was burgled. The total stolen may have a value of up to £200 million, the incident has been called the "largest burglary in English legal history."
The heist was planned and carried out by four elderly men who were experienced thieves, all of whom pleaded guilty and received prison sentences in March 2016. Four other men were also tried on suspicion of involvement; three were found guilty and sent to prison, while the fourth was cleared.
the brinks mat 1983 robbery heathrow
The Brink's-Mat robbery at the Heathrow International Trading Estate on 25 November 1983 saw a record £26 million (today approximately £500 million) worth of gold bullion, diamonds and cash stolen from a warehouse. The bullion was the property of Johnson Matthey Bankers Ltd, which collapsed the following year after making large loans to fraudsters and insolvent firms. Many of the robbery gang were convicted, but the majority of the gold has never been recovered.
Insurers Lloyd’s of London paid out for the losses. Several murders have been linked to the case, plus links established to the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary over 30 years later in April 2015.
Insurers Lloyd’s of London paid out for the losses. Several murders have been linked to the case, plus links established to the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary over 30 years later in April 2015.
the security express robbery 1983
A gang of dangerous armed robbers prayed on the Security Express cash depot on Curtain Road, London in 1983 to successfully execute the most lucrative cash robbery in Britain of the time. Gregg Counsell, a security officer on duty at the time, left the building for a bottle of milk. It is then that the gang pounced. The team of thieves seized the opportunity to raid the building in a drawn out operation which saw the gang lay in wait for the other guards to clock on for over 7 hours before fleeing with over £6 million in cash. The story is told by Freddie Foreman, an ex-armed robber and a long time associate of the Kray brothers, his story explains the complexity of the crime and how he was extradited from Spain back to Britain and charged with handling stolen money from the robbery.
millenium dome heist 2000
The Millennium Dome in Greenwich, London became the scene of Britain’s biggest attempted heist. The Millennium Star, a one off diamond and a set of rare blue gems on show at the attraction became the target of a highly dangerous gang of thieves. In the most audacious attack seen on British shores, the thugs drove a digger into the Dome and tried to steal the diamonds worth £300 million. Their attempts were foiled by Scotland Yard. Police were lying in wake for them to get within arms reach of what the robbers thought was their biggest payday. This story is told through the eyes of the people who were at the heart of the robbery. Jon Shatford, the officer leading the case describes the elaborate plot along with John Swinfield. Staff from the Dome and De Beers, who owned the diamonds, also pieces together the story.
The Knightsbridge Safety Deposit Box Raid 1987
Italy’s most wanted criminal, Valerio Viccei, arrives on UK shores after being hunted for over 50 separate armed robberies in his native country. Viccei wastes no time robbing the best of British banks to feed his lifestyle and hunger for danger. In 1987 his final payday proved to be one of the largest heists ever recorded in British history. With a small gang, he robbed a safety deposit box centre in Knightsbridge and fled with £40 million worth of valuables. Viccei’s plan was eventually rumbled after some mistakes were made at the scene of the crime. He became Scotland Yard’s number one suspect after a blood stained finger print was found in the vault. What followed was an international hunt for the thief, associates and the loot ending in a spectacular showdown at Marble Arch in Viccei’s Ferrari Testarossa sports car.
securitas Depot robbery 2006
In 2006 Tonbridge, Kent became the scene of the largest ever cash heist in the world. A well organized and heavily armed gang forced their way into a security cash depot at night with the manager, Colin Dixon. He had been kidnapped by the robbers along with his family and held at gun point. The money stolen was a colossal £53 million, the biggest amount of cash ever stolen in a robbery. The police were on the tail of the robbers and found a make-up artist held the key to the investigation. Then within hours of the heist Detectives discovered millions of pounds stashed in various locations. Clue after clue unfolded helping officers blow the lid on the gang in one of the biggest criminal investigations on British soil. This phenomenal story is told through the eyes of night supervisor, Alun Thomas on duty that fateful evening, along with the officers who cracked the case Detective Sergeant Andy Nicoll and Detective Chief Inspector Mick Judge. They also reveal how an inside man in the depot leaked confidential information, making ‘Britain’s Biggest Heist’ possible…
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