One of Britain’s most infamous crimes, the stories of the Great Train Robbery have captured public imagination for over 60 years.

What was the Great Train Robbery?

The Great Train Robbery was a multi-million pound heist targeting a royal mail train on route to London. Orchestrated by London gang members and concluding in an international man hunt which spanned several decades, the stories of the robbery have captured public imagination ever since.

Who was involved in the Great Train Robbery?

The robbery was involved members of two notorious London gangs. Meanwhile the unprecedented scale of the crime warranted a large-scale police response. Many of the individuals became public figures by virtue of the infamy of the crime and the later adaptations of the tale for screen.

• The criminals: 16 men were involved in the heist, including the mastermind Bruce Reynolds, the famous fugitive Ronnie Biggs, alongside others such as club-owner Buster Edwards, the “silent man” Charlie Wilson, getaway driver Roy James, the ‘heavy’ Tommy Wisbey, and many more petty criminals besides.
• The investigators: the investigation was a huge-scale project, led by DCS Thomas Butler. Butler was backed by an investigative team labelled ‘5 Squad’, which included head of the flying squad DCS Ernest Millen, and Jack Slipper who eventually followed Biggs to Brazil, only to have the extradition request refused.

What happened in the Great Train Robbery?

At 3:03 am on Thursday 8th August 1963, a royal mail train travelling from Glasgow to London bearing bags of cash was brought to a halt at Sear Crossing. Unknown to the train driver, the stop signal had been falsely put in place by a highly organised gang, about to undertake one of the biggest robberies the country had ever seen.

The bandits quickly sprung into action, throwing the co-driver down the steep bank as he went to investigate the cut line-side phone line. Once on board, they bludgeoned the train driver over the head and causing injuries which would affect him for the rest of his life.

The front two train carriages wrecked uncoupled from the rest of the train, before forcing the injured driver to help them navigate the train to Bridge Bridge, where their team of drivers was waiting to take them from the scene. Passengers left on the uncoupled carriages remained at Sears Crossing, utterly unaware of the crime that was taking place.

At Bridge Bridge, the company of thieves absconded with 120 sacks of money, or High Value Packets (HVP), totalling £2.6 million (roughly equivalent to £48 million in 2025). The startled Post Office staff were left on the empty carriages and instructed to wait 30 minutes before seeking help.

How were the train robbers found?

Immediately after the heist, the syndicate made their way to Letherslade Farm, where they had planned to lay low while the furore following the come blew over. However, spoked by reports of police searching in the area, and seeing low-flying RAF planes (completely unrelated to the investigation), the larcenists decided to make a break for it and get on the run.

Here, however, is where the highly organised plan began to fall apart. A neighbouring resident had been made suspicious of the activity at Letherslade Farm and alerted police. Two of the gang had been designated the task of destroying any evidence left at etc farm by setting it alight. However, for one reason or another, they never managed to clear up the scene. By the time the police arrived, the gang had fled, but left at the fam was plenty of ephemera bearing fingerprints, including a monopoly game which had been played with the stolen money.

The fingerprints found at Letherslade Farm - known as the 'One Big Clue' - were lifted from the scene, and gradually led to the identification of all of the offenders.

Were the train robbers caught?

It took an international manhunt, spanning decades, but eventually, in 2001, the last of the suspects was jailed for their involvement in the crime. In total, the syndicate received a cumulative 307 years imprisonment.

However, even once identified, many of those involved managed to elude justice for many years. Two of the convicts managed to escape from prison, including Ronnie Biggs, whose audacious capers after the robbery has enthralled the public ever since. Biggs managed to relocate to Brazil, where he fathered a Brazillian child which prevented his extradition back to the UK to face up to his crimes. Arrests took place across the world, from Britain to Brazil, and one unfortunate member of the circle was later assassinated in Spain.

Telling the story of the Great Train Robbery

This story is told in the paperwork and ephemera of the late Ernest Millen, CBE,  which has been consigned to auction at C&T Auctioneers in Kent by his family. Included in the paperwork are important files and evidence photographs of the post investigation to the Great Train Robbery. The lot as a whole illustrates a prominent Scotland Yard career, with specific insights into one of Britain’s most infamous crimes which has endured and fascinated public imagination for centuries.

View the lot before it sells at auction on 30th November. Schedule a lot viewing with C&T Auctioneers here, or read about lot 827 here.

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