Oneofthemostnotori

ousr obberi
esinEngli
shhist
orytookpl
aceon8,August,
1963,whena
gangofmenstol
eov ertwomi ll
ionpounds(US$53mi l
l
ionin2018)f
rom ani
ghtmailt
rai
ninthe
count
rysi
deout
sideLondon.Thedar ingaudaci
tyoftherai
danditsmeti
cul
ousplanni
nghave
gi
venthehei
sti
conicstatus.

Thestor
ybeganmonthsearl
ierwhenthegangrecei
vedatip-
offfr
om apostoff
iceworkerthat
amailtr
ainwoul
dbecarr
yingbagsofoldbanknotestoLondonforrecy
cli
ng,
anirr
esi
stibl
epr i
ze
forcr
imi
nalsast
heywouldbeuntraceabl
e.

Aftercar
efulr
esear
ch,theychoseal
onel
yspot50ki
lomet
resnor
thofLondonandst
oppedt
he
tr
ainintheearl
yhoursbymakingafal
seredsi
gnal
.

Theythenswarmedont othel
ocomoti
ve,hi
tti
ngthedr
iverov
ertheheadi
nthest
ruggl
ethat
fol
lowed.Af
teruncoupli
ngthefr
ontt
wocoachescontaini
ngthemoney,t
heydr
ovethetr
aint
oa
bri
dge800met resaheadwherether
estofthegangwerewaiti
ng.

Heretheyunl
oadedthe128mai
lbagswei ghi
ng2.
5tonsont
otrucksparkedi
nthel
anebel
ow.
Theseweredisgui
sedasmil
i
tar
yv ehi
clestaki
ngpar
tinani
ghtexerci
se.Thewhol
eoper
ati
on
tookj
ust30mi nut
es.

Driv
ingslowl
ythroughbacklanest
oavoiddet
ect
ion,
theyarri
vedfort
y-f
iveminutesl
aterata
remotefarmhousewhichtheyhadboughtsi
xweeksearl
ier
.Whent heycountedthemoney ,
they
founditwasfarmor et
hantheyhadexpect
edandamidnoisycelebr
ati
ons,theyshar
edoutt he
l
oot.

Byli
steninginonpol i
cer adi
omessages, theysoonlearnedthepol
icehadguessedt heywere
st
il
linthear ea.Concernedt hatt
hefar
mhousewoul dsoonbediscovered,
theydecidedtoleave
i
mmedi at
elyandov ert
henext24hour swentt heirseparat
eways.Eachmanhadabout
£150,000(nearlyUS$4mi l
li
onin2018).Thepoli
cef oundthefar
mf ourdayslat
er.

I
twasatthi
spointthatt
hingsstar
tedtogowrong.Theyhadpai damantocleanupthe
f
armhousetoremov eal
levi
dencebuthenevertur
nedup, whichmeantt
hatfi
ngerpr
int
s
r
emainedatthefar
m.Thesewoul dlat
erl
eadtothearrestofsomeofthegang.
Meanwhi l
e,asthestor
yhittheheadl
i
nes,publ
icreact
ionwassurpr
isi
ngl
ysympathet
ic.People
wi
shedt herobbersgoodluckrat
herthandepl
orethei
rlawl
essbehavi
our
,nevermindthatthe
dr
iverhadbeenbr ut
all
ybeaten.

Thegangwereev entuall
ytobecomev icti
msoft heirownsuccess.Themedi af r
enzyputthe
poli
ceunderi
ntensepr essur
etomakear r
ests,
andasl eadi
ngpr ofessionalcri
minals,t
heywere
pri
mesuspects.Af ewweeksl ater
,anunknowni nformerwhowasi njailforanothercr
ime
reveal
edmostoftheirnames, possi
blyinret
urnforearlyr
elease.ByChr istmas,mostofthe
robber
shadbeencaught .

Whent hei
rtr
ial
cameear lyin1964,thesent
encesshockedthenat
ion:
thedef
endantswer
e
giv
enat ot
alofover300y earsi
nprison.Thegover
nmenthadclear
lybeenembarr
assedbythe
rai
d-thetrai
nhadneithersecuri
tyguardsnoranalar
m syst
em –andwasdeterminedt
omake
anexampleofthemen.

Manycr i
ti
cisedtheharshsentences,
incl
udi
ngt
hedetecti
veinchar
geoft
heinvest
igat
ion.But
asittur
nedout ,noneofthegangservedmoret
hanfi
fteenyear
s,whil
eanumberescapedand
fourwerenev ercaught
.

Asf
ort
hemoney
,tot
hisdayonl
yaf
ract
ionofi
thasev
erbeenr
ecov
ered.

I
tissober
ingtorefl
ectthattr
aindri
ver
,whohadbr avel
ydef
endedthestat
e'smil
li
ons,
receiv
ed
amere£250( US$6,
700i n2018)incompensat
ion.Yetsomeoftherobber
s'wiv
eswerelater
pai
dthousandsforthei
rstori
esbythenewspapers.