Great Train Robbery: Gang Steals £2.6 Million
A fifteen-man gang led by Bruce Reynolds stopped a Royal Mail train near Bridego Bridge in Buckinghamshire on August 8, 1963, by tampering with a signal light. They overpowered the driver, Jack Mills, hitting him with a cosh, and transferred 120 mailbags containing 2.6 million pounds in used banknotes (roughly 60 million pounds today) to a convoy of vehicles. The gang hid at a nearby farm, where they played Monopoly with real money. Police traced their fingerprints on the Monopoly board and other surfaces. Most were captured within months. Ronnie Biggs escaped prison in 1965 and lived as a fugitive in Brazil for 36 years. The robbery's combination of audacity and incompetent cleanup made it Britain's most famous heist.
August 8, 1963
63 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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