The Great Train Robbery Quiz | Specialized History

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In the early morning of Thursday 8th August 1963, a group of men (15 at the actual scene) committed a daring robbery by stopping a Royal Mail train in the English county of Buckinghamshire and making off with around 2.6 million pounds. Who is generally accepted as the leader and mastermind of the gang behind the robbery?

Answer: Bruce Reynolds

London born Bruce Reynolds turned to crime at a relatively young age, earning his first custodial sentence in 1957 aged 26. By the time of the robbery, he was well known, and indeed well respected amongst the capital's criminal fraternity. Reynolds was the last of the convicted men to be caught, managing to evade capture for over five years.

He was released in 1978, but was imprisoned again in the 1980s for dealing in amphetamines.

2. Just before 7 p.m. on Wednesday, 7 August 1963 the ill-fated TPO (Travelling Post Office) train began its southbound journey toward London's Euston station. Which British city was its point of departure?

Answer: Glasgow

The twelve carriage Royal Mail train left Scotland's Glasgow more or less on time, with 72 post office employees on board busily sorting the mail. It was known to the robbers that the second carriage behind the engine was where the bulk of the cash was being transported.

They were also aware that, owing to the fact it had been a bank holiday weekend, the haul would be considerably greater than usual.

3. What was the name of the crossing between Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire and Cheddington in Buckinghamshire, where the Great Train Robbers initially halted the train by tampering with the signal?

Answer: Sears Crossing

With the assistance of a six-volt battery the robbers concocted the power to illuminate the red signal halt sign at Sears Crossing, near the small hamlet of Ledburn, Buckinghamshire. The engine and first two carriages were uncoupled, before they forced, with some degree of violence, the driver to move the train 500 metres along the track to Bridego Bridge where the actual robbery took place.

4. What was the name of the train driver that suffered a black eye and facial injuries when severely attacked with an axe handle by one of the Great Train Robbers?

Answer: Jack Mills

At the time of the robbery Jack Mills, who hailed from the railway town of Crewe, was 58 years old. After the attack he was constantly plagued with health issues and, though it is hotly debated, it seems he never fully recovered from his ordeal, dying early in 1970 of leukaemia with complications.

It has never been disclosed which of the robbers administered the beating to Jack Mills, though name of Buster Edwards has been put forward on any number of occasions.

5. Situated just twenty-seven miles from the point where The Great Train Robbery took place, what was the name of the isolated farm to which the gang drove to lie low and count the money?

Answer: Leatherslade Farm

Leatherslade Farm was in the heart of a small farming community in the Buckinghamshire countryside and had been purchased two months prior to the heist by the gang. The farm consisted of a run-down, two-story house and various small outbuildings with ample room for both men and vehicles to temporarily stay.

However when it became clear the police suspected the robbers had remained in the vicinity of the crime-scene, plans were changed and the men left the farm less than 48 hours after arriving.

6. What was the name Detective Chief Superintendent and head of the Flying Squad that lead the investigation and chase for the Great Train Robbers? He had the nicknames "Grey Fox", "The Thief Taker" and "One Day Tommy"?

Answer: Tommy Butler

Tommy Butler was a single-minded detective, and generally regarded as the finest head of the Flying Squad that has ever been. Butler was not a typical London detective. He was a non-smoker, an irregular drinker who never married and lived with his mother, and was totally committed to the job.

In 1968 he postponed his retirement in order to continue tracking down the remaining fugitive robbers. He was forced to retire the following year but died soon after.

7. Ronnie Biggs is probably the best known of all the Great Train Robbers, even though he was way down in the pecking order of importance to the crime. Biggs was captured and served 19 months of his sentence before escaping from which London prison?

Answer: Wandsworth

Ronnie Biggs escaped from Wandsworth prison in south west London by scaling the wall and jumping on to a waiting removal van parked beneath. He fled to Paris, via Belgium with his wife and family, where he obtained new identity papers and a bout of plastic surgery.

After France came Australia then briefly Panama, before he finally decamped to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1970. His stay lasted over thirty years and was to say the least, tumultuous. Circumstances, including ill health and the "Sun" newspaper saw him return to Britain on May 7th 2001 to belatedly face the rather unpleasant music.

8. Ronnie Biggs was not the only Great Train Robber to escape from prison. On 12th August 1964, the man known as "The Treasurer" and "The Silent Man" broke out of Winson Green Prison in Birmingham after serving just four months of his sentence. What was his name?

Answer: Charlie Wilson

Charles Frederick Wilson was always considered the most intimidating and charismatic member of the gang. His escape was one of great daring as three men inveigled their way into Winson Green prison and extracted Wilson in under five mystifying minutes.

He avoided recapture for four years, before he was arrested again in Canada. After serving his time Charlie Wilson relocated to Spain where he lived for around twelve years before being found shot dead at his Marbella home.

9. In 1988 another member of the Great Train Robber's became a household name with the release of the movie "Buster", a comedy drama based on the heist and the escapades of Ronald "Buster" Edwards. Phil Collins played the part of Buster but which British actress took the role of his wife June?

Answer: Julie Walters

Celebrated English actress and comedienne Julie Walters played the part of Buster Edwards' unresisting wife June Rose with great style. (For me she was the bright part of the rather insipid movie "Buster"). The film, directed by David Green, was true to real events in a lot of ways, with Edwards and his family fleeing to live in Mexico until the money began to run out, then returning and serving nine years in prison.

In in reality, in 1994 Edwards was found dead, hanging from a steel girder in a London lock-up garage. An open verdict was recorded.

10. Although figures vary slightly, the amount stolen in The Great Train Robbery was around 2.6 million pounds. How much was recovered?

Answer: Around 380,000 Pounds

A fair sized portion of the recovered money came from the shares of two of the robbers, Roger Cordrey (�141,017) and Brian Field (�100,900). �36,000 was found in a caravan used by another gang member, whist yet another was caught in possession of just over �12,000. Close to �50,000 was recovered in a phone box, though the circumstances surrounding this find is dubious at best. Even though so little of the cash was found, it's fair to say that none of the convicted robbers lived a particularly exalted life on their ill-gotten gains.

Some might say they got exactly what they deserved.

Source: Author nickdrew55

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The Great Train Robbery Trivia Quiz

"The Great Train Robbery" was a daring heist which occurred in the south of England in 1963. See how much you know, or what you maybe able to learn.

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