Several weeks later, the police went to Field's house to interview him. Summoned by the defence, I was questioned over my shorthand note of disputed evidence relating to Brian Field, who was involved in the purchase of Leatherslade Farm. In September 2014, Goody claimed the identity of 'The Ulsterman' was Patrick McKenna for the first time in a documentary marking the 50th anniversary of the robbery. In her book Gangster's Moll, Marilyn Wisbey recounts that on 8 June 1988, after returning home from a visit to an abortion clinic and resting they were raided by the Drugs Squad. Field was called upon to assist in Goody's defence in the aftermath of the "Airport Job", which was a robbery carried out on 27 November 1962 at BOAC Comet House, Hatton Cross, London Airport. If Williams had known this, he could have asked Daly questions about the Monopoly set and robbed him of his very effective alibi. National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. Ronnie Biggs Biggs fled to Paris, where he acquired new identity papers and underwent plastic surgery. Deficiencies in High-Value Package carriage security were reported and secure carriages were immediately brought back into service. ][non-primary source needed] Field was successful in arranging bail for Goody and Charlie Wilson. [62][pageneeded][non-primary source needed][unreliable source?]. Buster Edwards John was working in Oakley, a quiet Buckinghamshire village 25 miles away. The revelation was made on his deathbed at St Christophers Hospice in Sydenham, south London. The other arrests were made by Sgt Stan Davis and Probationary Constable Gordon 'Charlie' Case. Following the robbery, he fled to Mexico but eventually gave himself up in 1966 and ended up serving nine years in prison. This was to deter collector/souvenir hunters. After the police found this hideout, incriminating evidence led to the eventual arrest and conviction of most of the gang. After blowing most of his share, he was recaptured while attempting to lie low in Torquay. Around the farm buildings he carefully placed jars of acid and wooden staves. Most of the gang were captured, tried, and imprisoned, but Edwards evaded arrest with his 150,000 share of the stolen money. I thought, at the time, God, what have I done? A furniture van was parked alongside the prison walls and a ladder was dropped over the 30-foot-high wall into the prison during outside exercise time, allowing four prisoners to escape, including Biggs. Grace and the children bought an Alsatian puppy which soon grew and became very protective. Member Since: April 2004. Mentmore Bridge (previously known as Bridego Bridge and then Train Robbers' bridge). The farm of Renton's founder grew into a hospital and a hardware store [31], Reynolds was sent back to prison in the mid-1980s for dealing amphetamines. 2022 - 2023 Times Mojo - All Rights Reserved Great Train Robbery | robtryan Now it is run by a chef who used to work at St John, a trendy London restaurant, and offers robust British dishes rabbit, oxtongue, mallard. The house at Leatherslade Farm, near Brill in Buckinghamshire, on the day of its discovery by police,13th August 1963. Butler was said to be very secretive, with Jack Slipper claiming in his book Slipper of the Yard (1981) that "he wouldn't even tell his own left hand what the right one was doing". He surrendered and was sentenced to 15 years in jail. Ronald Buster Edwards is widely believed to be the man who wielded a cosh used to hit train driver Jack Mills over the head. Worldwide, the largest cash robbery in history was in March 2003, when approximately US$1 billion was stolen from the Central Bank of Iraq, shortly after the United States began the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It was renamed by the owners who even diverted the nearby public footpath to further discourage the curious. A further 36,000 was recovered from Jimmy White's caravan. But the train had to be moved forward a short distance from the signal to Bridego Bridge, where vans were waiting to be loaded with the loot. [48][pageneeded] The process of talking to the informer was handled by Hatherill and Millen and they never divulged the identity of the informer to the detectives in their command. Leatherslade Farm, between Oakley and Brill in Buckinghamshire, hideout used by gang, 27 miles from the crime scene, Tuesday 13th August 1963;. In 2001, when Biggs finally surrendered and returned to prison in Britain after being 36 years on the run, the former Mrs Biggs was featured on the ABCs Australian Story. The first reports of the robbery were broadcast on the VHF police radio within a few minutes and this is where the gang heard the line "A robbery has been committed and you'll never believe it they've stolen the train!". Thomas Kett, assistant inspector in charge of the train from Carlisle to Euston, was also in the carriage. [34], After his release from prison in 1975, Goody moved to the white-washed town of Mojcar in Almera, Spain, where he ran the Chiringuito Kon Tiki beachfront bar. Millen said in his book Specialist in Crime, "the break-through with the informer came at a moment when I and my colleagues at the Yard were in a state of frustration almost approaching despair". He only had 8,000 to hand back to them. John Gosling and Dennis Craig's book on the robbery, LIFE magazine, in its 23 August 1963 issue, featured an 8-page article title 'STOP! [14], The robbers had cut all the telephone lines in the vicinity, but one of the rail-men left on the train at Sears Crossing caught a passing goods train to Cheddington, where he raised the alarm at around 04:20. Reynolds, then aged 47, was helped by Gordon Goody to get back on his feet, before Goody departed for Spain. During his national service in the RAF he was detained for stealing cigarettes. Many of the robbers are now dead, although the celebrated Ronnie Biggs who escaped from jail and spent years as a tourist attraction in Brazil, is back in Britain. Field, his wife Karin and his associate "Mark" brought the vans and drove the remainder of the gang to the Field's home to recover. Read promised not to reveal their identities. The raid was devised over a period of months by a core team: Goody and Edwards along with Bruce Reynolds, and Charlie Wilson, with Reynolds assuming the role of "mastermind". [92] Unlike the other three members of the gang who got away, Peta Fordham does make mention of the replacement driver, but notes that he is said now to be dead, perhaps the robbers who provided material for the book did not want the police looking for him, as at the time of publishing (1965) Reynolds, White and Edwards were still on the run.[93]. There is some uncertainty regarding the exact cash total stolen from the train. It was a master-class on how not to carry out a robbery. His mother died in 1935, and he had trouble living with his father and stepmother, so he often stayed with one or other of his grandmothers. Sometime after his release from prison he married Sian, from Wales. The windows of the house had been adorned with various covers as curtains but it was odd because they were drawn fully across the windows with only the bottom corners in the centre drawn back. Charlie Wilson Wilson took up residence outside Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Rigaud Mountain in an upper-middle-class neighbourhood where the large, secluded properties are surrounded by trees. This recommendation was implemented in 1961, but HVP carriages without alarms were retained in reserve. He was a wartime paratrooper and a veteran of Arnhem. It has been suggested[22] that a known associate of the convicted robbers, Sammy Osterman, was part of the gang, and his "Ulsterman" soubriquet was simply the result of mishearing his surname. [56][pageneeded]. On 13 July 1964, the appeals by Lennie Field and Brian Field (no relation) against the charges of conspiracy to rob were allowed. Is Leatherslade Farm Still There? - Caniry I remember joking that morning, Whod want to pinch a train? Then my next remark was that will be them up on the farm, indicating Leatherslade Farm next door. Accepting that he could be arrested, his stated desire was to "walk into a Margate pub as an Englishman and buy a pint of bitter". In fact had police heeded three earlier calls from a cowman, John Maris, who said there was something funny going on at Leatherslade Farm, the gang would have been rounded up even more quickly. When I arrived I found a huddle of detectives examining the locomotive, which had been moved to nearby Cheddington railway station. [110] It is hinted in several books that the deals done by Williams were responsible for his being overlooked for promotion and that Williams was unhappy that his efforts were not recognised by Butler, but were instead hidden from superiors. [82], Wisbey later explained: "We were against drugs all our lives, but as the years went on, towards the end of the '70s, it became more and more the 'in' thing. [9] This carriage was kept for evidence for seven years following the event and then burned at a scrapyard in Norfolk in the presence of police and post office officials to deter any souvenir hunters. Bob Welch (born March 1929) was released on 14 June 1976. Where was the Great Train Robbery hideout? While he did have legitimate work in his in-laws' grocer's shop, he also was a thief and his criminal proceeds went into buying shares in various gambling enterprises. That raid consisted of Roy James and Mickey Ball as the getaway drivers, with six robbersBruce Reynolds, Buster Edwards, Gordon Goody, Charlie Wilson, Flossy (and a sixth man who did not participate in the train robbery). Want the latest news from across Bucks? A notorious London gangster was the real mastermind of the Great Train Robbery, a new book has claimed. However, he didn't avoid prison forever and returned to the UK in 2001 where he was arrested and imprisoned. [70] He is buried in Streatham cemetery.[70]. Butler worked long hours and expected all members of the squad to do the same. The ringleaders . The robbers removed all but eight of the 128 sacks from the HVP carriage, which they transferred in about 1520 minutes to the waiting truck by forming a human chain. Danny Pembroke was an ex-army man who was a South London taxi driver and a South Coast Raider. [citation needed] He could not be charged because of lack of evidence; there were no fingerprints or identifiable marks anywhere. It was woefully planned and disastrously executed by a bunch of incompetent criminals. But in spite of our strong suspicions, nothing could be proved against him and so no charge could be brought. They had to disprove Johns testimony that he had not seen anyone drive up that day. 2K views, 27 likes, 7 loves, 18 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Dbstvstlucia: DBS MORNING SHOW & OBITUARIES 25TH APRIL 2023 APRIL 2023 No. Now, Robert Ryan has fictionalised the tale based on known facts but using imagined situations and dialogue, a technique he has used before in his novel Death on the Ice, about Captain Scott . The last of the robbers released, (after serving about one-third of his sentence[70]) Wilson returned to the life of crime and was found shot dead at his villa in Marbella, Spain, on 24 April 1990. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. A Gannett Company. His one regret was that he had the search for the hideout carried out radiating outwards from the scene of the robbery rather than an inwards search from a 30-mile (50km) perimeter. Police later acknowledged that he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.[50][51]. He became so involved in the case that he continued to hunt many of the escaped robbers after he retired. Yes, I did regret getting involved, he says. Despite the big breakthrough of the discovery of Leatherslade Farm, the investigation was not going well. Leatherslade Farm. My evidence plainly did not do much good Field got 30 years, although it was reduced on appeal. He was most notable for leading the team of detectives that investigated the Great Train Robbery in 1963. I bought a new car and decided to leave my job and bought my own house.. For other uses including films, see. The planned arson never took place however and the farm was described as 'one big clue' after it was discovered a few days later. This was not proof of involvement in a conspiracy. Jean Sherrard. [77] Furthermore, both Ronnie Biggs and Gordon Goody, two surviving gang members at the time, gave sworn affidavits asserting that Boal was innocent. Piers Paul Read refers to this man as Bill Jennings in The Train Robbers, while Bruce Reynolds adds a nickname, 'Flossy'. From listening to their police-tuned radio, the gang learned that the police had calculated they had gone to ground within a 30-mile (50km) radius of the crime scene rather than dispersing with their haul. This gang, although very successful in the criminal underworld, had virtually no experience in stopping and robbing trains, so it was agreed to enlist the help of another London gang called The South Coast Raiders. She confirmed that she took Roy James to Thame railway station so he could go to London and that she led a convoy of two vans back to her house, where the gang were joined by wives and girlfriends for a big party to celebrate the crime. They were meticulous about closing gates, which seemed unusual during the day between milking times. He never overcame the trauma of the robbery. Biggs was renewing the front windows of a train driver's house in Redhill, who he calls 'Peter' (and whom he believes to be dead by 1994). According to Marilyn Wisbey, her father's share was hidden by his father Tommy Wisbey Senior in the panels in the doors of his home. It was the police officer Id spoken to the day before and he remembered what Id told him. Police found the farmhouse five days later, empty except for one mailbag containing pounds 628 10s. The legal action was part of a defence strategy by three of the gang Wisbey, James Hussey and Robert Welch who claimed they had never been at the farm and their fingerprints were only found because they had turned up two days afterwards. Opening one envelope, she kept it secret, afraid to divulge its contents to her already worried husband. [9], The first gang member to be caught was Roger Cordrey. [81] Upon their release from prison, both men retired from work. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. A watch was put on the seaports. After dividing it up, one of the robbers was supposed to set fire to the farm to ensure there were no prints, however, he failed to do this, which led the police right to the thieves. He went to jail for short spells for numerous offences. By the time Wisbey was released from jail all of his share had either been spent or invested. It was that police were urging anybody who happened to notice that any male neighbours had mysteriously disappeared should alert their local station. Of the 13.6 million of property stolen in the heist, only around 4.5 million - roughly a third - has been recovered by police. He died in jail of cancer. Taking place a day later than originally planned, the gang set off from Leatherslade Farm near Oakley, Buckinghamshire at around 1am on Thursday 8 August 1963. It couldn't be simpler and it takes seconds - simply press here, enter your email address and follow the instructions. However, afraid that he would be betrayed, he did a deal with Frank Williams and paid back 47,245. The final gang who took part in the raid comprised a total of sixteen men.[7]. Pops/Dad a.k.a. Specialist in Crime (1972), Ernest Millen, Specialist in Crime (1972), Ernest Millen, P.208, The Train Robbers (Piers Paul Read) (1978), The Train Robbers by Piers Paul Read (1976). Field, not knowing the police had found a receipt, readily confirmed that he and his wife had been to Germany on a holiday and gave them the details of the place at which they had stayed. [52] On Friday 16 August 1963, two people who had decided to take a morning stroll in Dorking Woods discovered a briefcase, a holdall and a camel-skin bag, all containing money. He visited Canada and the US as a lecturer on police matters. [43] Despite not being in on the robbery, he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years (20 years for conspiracy to rob and five years for obstructing justice), which was later reduced to five. THE Great Train Robbery has always been a tale of criminal cunning as Cockney as jellied eels. In the epilogue, Reynolds describes what happened to some of the robbers. WHEN HISTORIAN RON EDGE forwarded this week . Fifteen men were helped by two accomplices - an insider who still remains anonymous to this day and another person who ensured a hiding spot at Leatherslade Farm in Bucks. Killing Charlie, by Wensley Clarkson (Pp 148153), Gangster's Moll (2001) by Marilyn Wisbey (Pp 8081), Gangster's Moll (2001) by Marlyn Wisbey (Chapters 1: Growing Up and 12: Cocaine), Killing Charlie (2004) by Wensley Clarkson (Pp165-166), The Train Robbers by Piers Paul Read (Pp239-242), The Train Robbers, by Piers Paul Read (1978), Killing Charlie by Wensley Clarkson (Pp 227 & 244), Crossing the Line The Autobiography of a Thief, Bruce Reynolds, Page 217, Crossing the Line The Autobiography of a Thief, Bruce Reynolds, Page 167, The Train Robbers, Piers Paul Read, Pages 269-271, Odd Man Out (1994), Ronnie Biggs, Pages14-16, Odd Man Out (1994), Ronnie Biggs, Pages31-32, The Train Robbers by Piers Paul Read (Pp 235 & 245), No Fixed Address (1971) by Frank Williams (Ch: Where Has All The Money Gone? They had spent much of their share of the robbery by this point living far more extravagantly than the Edwardses had. He was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in jail. He died in July 1985. The Great Train Robbery | Thames Valley Police Douglas (Gordon) Goody As he returned to the train he was overpowered by one of the robbers. He was with his friend, William Boal who was helping him lie low in return for the payment of old debts. Following the robbery, Pembroke left for America for a couple of years, knowing he was set up for life, and then returned to live quietly in Kent. After the police found this hideout, incriminating evidence led to the eventual arrest and conviction of most of the gang. Herdsman who turned hero breaks his silence to reveal deat threat terror. The gang then made off to Leatherslade Farm near Oakley with somewhere in the region of 2.6m, the bulk of which was in 1, 5 and 10 notes. ][non-primary source needed], The Replacement Train Driver a.k.a. [104] He worked as an accommodation officer for Portsmouth Polytechnic before retiring to live by the sea near Swanage. Surrey police delivered the money and the receipt to Fewtrell and McArthur in Aylesbury, who knew by then that Brian Field was a clerk at James and Wheater who had acted in the purchase of Leatherslade Farm. Field, aged 44, and Sian, aged 28, died in a car crash on the M4 motorway on 27 April 1979, a year after the last of the robbers had completed their sentences. He was famous for breaking up the Richardson Gang at a time when a significant number of London-based detectives were known to be corrupt. It has been said that he bore a striking resemblance to John Thaw, who was the star of Inspector Morse, which, perhaps coincidentally, was a television series about a detective in the Thames Valley Police Force (the modern-day successor to Buckinghamshire Constabulary). When he was discharged from the military, it was with "a very good character". He was sentenced to six years in jail. It then made sense to shoot the entire film in Yorkshire and a collection of farm buildings at Balne, near Goole, provided a match for Leatherslade Farm. By 29 August 1963 Commander Hatherill had 14 names, and told police that Brian Field had tried to enlist another gang to rob the train, who turned him down. He and his wife Barbara and their three children moved to Cornwall, where he worked as a street sweeper until the age of 70, known to the locals as Gentleman John or John the Gent. Tommy Wisbey was luckier than most of the others, in that his loot had been entrusted to his brothers, and when he emerged, he had a house in South London and a few other investments to keep him going. It was surmised that McKenna either donated his share to the Catholic church over the years or had had the money stolen from him.[21]. He was released a decade later. Getaway and planned clean-up. Bruce Reynolds, the mastermind of the 1963 Great Train Robbery, has died aged 81, just months before the 50th anniversary of Britains most spectacular heist. A biopic, Buster, was released in 1988. But for the vigilant farmworker, his moment of fame led to years of fear, too. There was one time I noticed a Land Rover and some men in the back go up to the farm. This obviously caused her great distress.. Gerald MacArthur died aged 70 on 21 July 1996. Shortly after his release, Wisbey was imprisoned on remand over a swindle involving travellers' cheques. As it happened, when the robbers, most of whom had form, realised the police were hot on their trail, they dispersed in chaos, leaving fingerprints all over the farm, on crockery, tomato sauce bottles and furniture. His speciality was dealing with informants and he had the best working knowledge of the south London criminal fraternity in the force. On his release he ran a flower stall at Waterloo station, however, he had a tragic end to his life and was found hanged in a garage in 1994. Overview: Map: Directions: Satellite: Photo Map: Overview: Map: Directions: Satellite: Photo Map: Tap on the map to travel: Leatherslade Farm. Great Train Robbery: Leatherslade Farm photos after gang's Bucks [73][pageneeded][non-primary source needed][unreliable source?] Leatherslade Farm Map - Residential area - Mapcarta Other associates (including Ronnie Biggs, a man Reynolds had previously met in jail) were added as the organisation evolved. Justice Atkinson stated that he would not be surprised if Field were not only part of the conspiracy, but also one of the robbers. [71] His story was dramatised in the 1988 film Buster, with Phil Collins in the title role. Most of them were caught. He produced the trophy given to Formula One promoters each year thanks to his acquaintance with Bernie Ecclestone. Hatherill's list was unerringly accurateall the major gang members who were later jailed were identified, except Ronnie Biggs. The police were soon after the gang. The jury retired to the Grange Youth Centre in Aylesbury to consider its verdict. James was acquitted in January 1984 for his part in the swindle. Also, he did some (criminal?) The precise amounts of the split differ according to the source, but the full shares came to approximately 150,000 each (equivalent to 3million today). Hussey's share of the loot had been entrusted to a friend of Frank Monroe who squandered it despite Monroe periodically checking on its keeper. Locomotive English Electric Type 4 D326 (later 40126) was involved in a number of serious operating incidents. And in a move which may have left tourism bosses on The English Riviera smarting, Filey upstaged Torquay as Reynolds final hide-out. Consequently, many bank robbers are caught the same day. One of the Post Office carriages that was part of the remaining train (not involved in the actual robbery) is preserved at the Nene Valley Railway at Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, and is being restored. (Ron Edge collection) Roy James was carrying 12,041 when captured. In 1960, he began to work with Bruce Reynolds and planned to get into the criminal big league. Seattle Now & Then: Smithers Farm in Renton, 1891 Edwards served nine years in jail and then became a familiar figure selling flowers outside Waterloo station in London. How much would the Great Train Robbery be worth today? They arrested him at Littlestone while he was at home. Bruce Reynolds, the mastermind of the 1963 Great Train Robbery, has died aged 81, just months before the 50th anniversary of Britains most spectacular heist. [71] His family continued to run the flower stall after his death. "Odd Man Out" (1994) by Ronald Biggs. Throughout this time he became infamous in the media, especially across the tabloid press. It was made out to Herr and Frau Field. Many in Rigaud petitioned that his wife and three daughters be allowed to stay in the Montreal area. [102] He did not contest his seat at the next election in September 1964, which the Labour Party won under Harold Wilson. [13][pageneeded][unreliable source? With no alternative available to them, it was quickly decided that Mills would have to move the train to the stopping point near the bridge, which was indicated by a white sheet stretched between poles on the track. But life was to get worse for the couple when a year after the robbery a relative of train robber Tommy Wisbey brought a private prosecution against John alleging perjury. He called a meeting with Edwards, Reynolds, Daly and James and they agreed that they needed to be sure.
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