The Great Train Robbery

1963 History’s most famous heist, the Great Train Robbery took place in England. A 16-member gang stole 2,631,784 pounds – worth over 26 million pounds ($AU75.5 million) today – in used bank notes which were on their way back to the Bank of England for burning.

Two London gangs combined for the stick-up. Best known of the robbers, the fun-loving birthday boy Ronnie Biggs (pictured, born on this day in 1929), was a member of neither, but was chosen because he knew the train driver. For his minor role in the robbery, Biggs was given a 30-year sentence, considered by many to be out of proportion to his crime. He gained fame by escaping from prison and remaining free for 28 years under the noses of Scotland Yard. Biggs lived secretly in Australia, then publicly in Brazil, made a movie with the Sex Pistols, and became an even bigger celebrity, making a living by being available for barbecues for a fee.

Old and infirm, Ronnie Biggs in 2001 made a celebrated voluntary return to Britain, and despite having lived a reformed life for 38 years, was arrested at London’s airport and remains in prison. One can only presume Biggs decided that English prison was preferable to Brazilian hospital. One might also conclude that British justice has an elephantine memory not only for people who break the law, but also for those who embarrass it.

The story of Buster Edwards, who fled to Mexico but gave himself up, was dramatized in the 1988 film, Buster, which starred Phil Collins in the title role. The Great Train Robbery is also the name of one of the earliest narrative films (1903; more).