The Robbery
Source; Wikipedia
The Glasgow to Watford travelling post office (TPO) train was stopped by a red light at Seers Crossing. The Watford Signalling & Telegraph equipment had been tampered with, unknown to the driver, with a glove placed over the green signal lamp and a six-volt battery temporarily powering the red one. The locomotive's second man Dave Parr went to call the signalman only to find the telephone cables had been cut. Upon returning to the train, he was thrown down the embankment of the railway track.[2]
One problem the robbers encountered was that the diesel train was different from the local trains, making it difficult to operate. One of the robbers had spent months befriending railway staff and familiarising himself with the layout and operation, but it was decided instead to use an experienced train driver - later referred to as 'Stan Agate' - to drive the train from the stopping point at the signals to the bridge after uncoupling the unnecessary carriages. However, the train driver was unable to operate the train and it was quickly decided that the original driver, Jack Mills, would move the train down the track. The high-value carriage was uncoupled from the others and driven a further half a mile (about 800 m) to Bridego Bridge where the robbers' Land Rovers lay waiting. Stan Agate's participation in the robbery was Ronnie Biggs's only task and when it became obvious that they were useless they were banished to the waiting ex-army truck to help load the mail bags.
A 15-member gang, led by Bruce Reynolds and including Ronnie Biggs, Charlie Wilson, Jimmy Hussey, Roy James, Jimmy White (a former British Army paratrooper), Tommy Wisbey, Gordon Goody and Ronald "Buster" Edwards, boarded the train and began to unload the money sacks into waiting vehicles on the road below the bridge. Although no guns were used, the train driver, Jack Mills, was hit on the head with an iron bar, causing a black eye and facial bruising. The assailant was one of two members of the gang who was never identified but is thought to be Ronald "Buster" Edwards. Frank Williams (at the time a Detective Inspector) claims to have traced the man, but he could not be charged because of lack of evidence. Mills had constant trauma headaches the rest of his life. He died in 1970 from leukaemia.
£2.6 million was stolen in used £1, £5 and £10 notes, the equivalent of £38 million (US $56 million) adjusted for 2008 inflation. In an effort to mislead any potential witness the team used 2 Land Rover vehicles both of which had the registration plates BMG 757 A.
| Emotional release for son as Ronnie Biggs is officially freed
Source; The Guardian
Ronnie Biggs was today formally freed from his prison sentence after being granted a compassionate release by the government.
It was the first time in 45 years that the Great Train Robber had been not wanted or imprisoned by the British state, but the joy of his family and supporters was tempered by the fact the 79-year-old is seriously ill and not expected to recover.
His son Michael waved the paperwork granting the release at journalists waiting outside Norfolk and Norwich hospital, where Biggs is being treated for pneumonia. Witnesses said prison guards left the hospital shortly after 2pm.
Michael: "As a family, we are absolutely thrilled. My father is now a free man. It was very emotional when the guards left. I had a private moment with my dad to thank him for sticking with it."
In 1964 Biggs was convicted of his part in the £2.6m robbery by a 15-strong gang, during which a train guard, Jack Mills, was beaten over the head. Biggs received a 30-year sentence but escaped from prison after 15 months and spent 30 years on the run in Australia and Brazil.
He voluntarily returned to Britain in 2001, and his health has worsened with a series of strokes. Tomorrow is Biggs's 80th birthday and the 46th anniversary of the robbery, which at the time was the biggest theft in British criminal history.
Michael Biggs said a duty prison governor outlined the terms and conditions of the release on licence to his father.
He said: "My father still has a sense of humour. He shook hands with the prison guards and then just waved them off with his hands. He will now be retreating fully from public life. This is not going to turn into a media circus." |
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