Great Train Robbery

I. The Great Train Robbery

a 10-minute US silent film (1903) which has been called ‘the first real movie’, because it was the first to tell a story. It is a western about criminals who rob a train and then celebrate in town. It was made by the Edison Company and was the main attraction in nickelodeons for several years.

II. the Great Train Robbery

a robbery that took place in southern England in 1963. A group of men attacked a mail train and stole £2.6 million. It is Britain’s most famous robbery because little of the stolen money was ever found. Most of the robbers were caught and sent to prison, but one of them, Ronald Biggs, escaped from prison and lived in Brazil until he was caught and returned to prison in 2001.

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▪ British history

 (August 8, 1963), in British history, the armed robbery of £2,600,000 (mostly in used bank notes) from the Glasgow–London Royal Mail Train, near Bridego Bridge north of London. The 15 holdup men, wearing helmets, ski masks, and gloves, were aided by two accomplices—an anonymous insider who provided sensitive train-schedule and cargo information and another person who provided a country hideaway, Leatherslade Farm in Buckinghamshire. The ring leader was Bruce Reynolds, a known burglar and armed robber.

      The robbers stopped the train by turning off a green track signal and, with batteries, turning on a red signal. The train's fireman went to investigate and was captured, unharmed; the engineer was severely injured by a blow on the head. The robbers took about 120 mail bags by Land Rovers to their farm hideaway, where they divided the loot. Subsequently six thieves were hired to burn down the farmhouse but did such a poor job that the police found everyone's fingerprints. With this and other evidence, 12 of the 15 robbers were caught, convicted, and sent to prison (none serving more than 13 years). One, Ronnie Biggs, escaped from prison in 1965, had his face altered by plastic surgery, and fled first to Paris, then to Australia, and finally to Brazil. In 2001 Biggs returned to the United Kingdom and was rearrested.

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