8 August 1963: the Great Train Robbery took place

The Great Train Robbery, arguably the most famous heist in British history, took place on this day in 1963. The robbers got away with £2.6m in cash.

Stopped mail train © Keystone/Getty Images
The robbers got away with £2.6m
(Image credit: © Keystone/Getty Images)

The Great Train Robbery of 1963 was arguably the most famous heist in British history. Five career criminals, led by antiques dealer Bruce Reynolds, learned through a mysterious informant who has never been identified about the schedule of a Post Office mail train that regularly carried large sums of cash from Glasgow to London's Euston station.

After several months of planning, and the recruitment of accomplices, they carried out their plot in the early hours of 8 August.

The gang tampered with a railway signal, forcing the train to stop. They then took control of the train, assaulting the driver, who died a few years afterwards. After uncoupling the engine and the carriage containing the money, they drove the train to a prearranged meeting place and loaded the money onto a truck.

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While some of the cash was overlooked, they got away with £2.6m in cash, equivalent to £56m in 2019's money.

The size of the theft and rumours that the crooks had inside help led to huge amounts of press coverage.The breakthrough came when the police discovered the gang's hideout, where they found a Monopoly board and ketchup bottle covered with fingerprints. Eleven gang members were arrested and convicted, with seven being given 30-year sentences, but in most cases these were eventually reduced to ten years or less.

The costs of legal fees, or life on the run, would ensure that most of them would end up penniless. Indeed, Ronnie Biggs returned to Britain in 2001 after escaping from jail in 1965 because he couldn't afford medical care in Brazil.

Dr Matthew Partridge

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

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