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Gordon Goody, one of the last surviving members of the Great Train Robbery gang, has died aged 86, more than 50 years since the infamous heist.
He had been living in the southern Spanish town of Mojacar, where he ran a bar.
A statement from the local town hall said he had died surrounded by friends. It did not reveal the cause of death.
Goody was sentenced to 30 years for his part in the 1963 robbery - one of the most notorious in British history.
On 8 August 1963 a gang masterminded by Bruce Reynolds stopped the Glasgow to London Euston overnight mail train as it passed through the Buckinghamshire countryside close to Cheddington.
The train was driven a mile-and-a-half to Bridego Bridge, where the gang unloaded more than £2.6m in used notes - worth about £46m today.
But they were later captured and 12 were jailed for a total of more than 300 years.
Train driver Jack Mills was struck over the head during the robbery and never worked again. He died in 1970.
He had been living in the southern Spanish town of Mojacar, where he ran a bar.
A statement from the local town hall said he had died surrounded by friends. It did not reveal the cause of death.
Goody was sentenced to 30 years for his part in the 1963 robbery - one of the most notorious in British history.
On 8 August 1963 a gang masterminded by Bruce Reynolds stopped the Glasgow to London Euston overnight mail train as it passed through the Buckinghamshire countryside close to Cheddington.
The train was driven a mile-and-a-half to Bridego Bridge, where the gang unloaded more than £2.6m in used notes - worth about £46m today.
But they were later captured and 12 were jailed for a total of more than 300 years.
Train driver Jack Mills was struck over the head during the robbery and never worked again. He died in 1970.
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Many, if not most, believe that Goody was the brains behind the robbery
not so aspro
gordon was one of the hard men hired for his brawn rather than his brains
the main man was brucie reynolds and a shadowy figure known as 'the irishman' who was never caught
gordon was one of the hard men hired for his brawn rather than his brains
the main man was brucie reynolds and a shadowy figure known as 'the irishman' who was never caught
Whatever newspaper the OP was pasted from needs to sack its sub-editor: "one of the last surviving members ... has died".
Goody always claimed he was framed: admitted he was guilty but said the yellow paint on his shoes, which proved it, was planted.
Goody always claimed he was framed: admitted he was guilty but said the yellow paint on his shoes, which proved it, was planted.
Yep the paint evidence was dodgy but it was a different world then and the old bill were not going to let a little thing like lack of evidence get in the way of a result.
Aspro
"Many, if not most, believe that Goody was the brains behind the robbery"
A book I read about it claimed that Goody was the one who tipped off the rest of the gang that all that money would be on that train. But it was 'the irishman' who told him. Leader of the gang was Bruce Reynolds. So that post by EastOfEden above was right as in the book, and 'the irishman' who was never caught was apparently a postal worker.
All that money today would be worth about £50million.
"Many, if not most, believe that Goody was the brains behind the robbery"
A book I read about it claimed that Goody was the one who tipped off the rest of the gang that all that money would be on that train. But it was 'the irishman' who told him. Leader of the gang was Bruce Reynolds. So that post by EastOfEden above was right as in the book, and 'the irishman' who was never caught was apparently a postal worker.
All that money today would be worth about £50million.
According to todays' Times ,Goody disclosed a couple of years ago that the unknown Irishman was "Patrick McKenna a postal worker from Belfast,who looked like Frank Sinatra" !
In the robbers own account goody along wuth buster edwards were the first to storm the locomotive and enter the cab
by there account it was goody who
entered from the right,grabs driver mills from behind and spins him around....
the account then states that an un named robber referred to as mr 3
who has followed goody in to the cab coshes driver mills on the back of the head
mills falls sideways to his knees from the blow striking his head against a solid steel cab wall.blood pours from the cut
it is soon discovered that the driver hired by biggs to drive the train is completely useless and unable to do the job
goody pulls him from the drivers seat and
tells the gang to 'fetch the driver'.He puts the injured mills in the drivers seat and threatens him with a cosh if he does not drive the train...
so not really a very nice man and clearly at the sharp end of the on board violence by the robbers own account
it was well organised though and a little piece of history as stated by 'nipper' read
by there account it was goody who
entered from the right,grabs driver mills from behind and spins him around....
the account then states that an un named robber referred to as mr 3
who has followed goody in to the cab coshes driver mills on the back of the head
mills falls sideways to his knees from the blow striking his head against a solid steel cab wall.blood pours from the cut
it is soon discovered that the driver hired by biggs to drive the train is completely useless and unable to do the job
goody pulls him from the drivers seat and
tells the gang to 'fetch the driver'.He puts the injured mills in the drivers seat and threatens him with a cosh if he does not drive the train...
so not really a very nice man and clearly at the sharp end of the on board violence by the robbers own account
it was well organised though and a little piece of history as stated by 'nipper' read
Retired Chief Inspector John Wolley who discovered the Leatherslade Farm hideout, meeting up with Bruce Reynolds on the 40th anniversary of the Great Train Robbery, in August 2003 and sharing a jolly jape about the good old days
Unbelievable the way people fawn over them.
Criminals who should be shunned by society.
Criminals who should be shunned by society.
They were a bunch of petty crooks with a taste for the high life. Reynolds masterminded the robbery when he discovered that the stash on a Bank Holiday train was a huge amount more than usual. He had been involved with most of the gang on other jobs before, so each had some skills that he needed. Roger Cordrey was the one who devised a way to alter the signals to cause the train to stop. (He was also the first one to be caught and arrested afterwards.)
They all had an essential part to play except Biggs, he was a friend and only brought in by Reynolds as a favour because he needed some ready cash. He was a small-time crook and only a minor player in the robbery, but afterwards he became the most famous criminal in the world !
There was a film made about 'Buster' Edwards, his part played by Phil Collins, when he realised the game was up he took his family and fled to Mexico. There is a book by Paul Read 'The Train Robbers' and in it the unsolved mystery of who clobbered the train driver, widely believed to have been Edwards.
From all the Major-League crimes in history The Great Train Robbery is right up there, that money today valued anywhere between £40 - 50 million.
They all had an essential part to play except Biggs, he was a friend and only brought in by Reynolds as a favour because he needed some ready cash. He was a small-time crook and only a minor player in the robbery, but afterwards he became the most famous criminal in the world !
There was a film made about 'Buster' Edwards, his part played by Phil Collins, when he realised the game was up he took his family and fled to Mexico. There is a book by Paul Read 'The Train Robbers' and in it the unsolved mystery of who clobbered the train driver, widely believed to have been Edwards.
From all the Major-League crimes in history The Great Train Robbery is right up there, that money today valued anywhere between £40 - 50 million.
tel
biggs also introduced bruce reynolds to a bloke called 'peter' for whom biggs had been doing some carpentry work
peter was a retired train driver who biggs said would be able to drive the hijacked train
in the event 'peter' was unable to drive it and watched the robbery unfold from a waiting vehicle
biggs also introduced bruce reynolds to a bloke called 'peter' for whom biggs had been doing some carpentry work
peter was a retired train driver who biggs said would be able to drive the hijacked train
in the event 'peter' was unable to drive it and watched the robbery unfold from a waiting vehicle
^ It's a fascinating story, and it's easy to forget these were really old-fashioned days compared to the computer world today. Back then you couldn't transfer funds with a few clicks of a computer mouse, and you couldn't pay for anything with a debit or credit card. Even writing a cheque was a bit of a new-fangled way of paying for some people.
So shipping banknotes across Britain in large amounts on travelling post office trains was normal. And postal workers would sort the mail etc as the train whizzed through the night in these mobile sorting offices. And being a Bank Holiday the value of the goods and cash on the train would inflate enormously. So the train robbery was like an updated version of highwaymen ! And a good old-fashioned robbery, not like cypher crime today.
"...peter was a retired train driver who biggs said would be able to drive the hijacked train"
He was supposed to be the replacement driver but was unfamiliar with diesel trains. So Mills who had been dragged away bleeding from his head wound was brought back, and under threat of further violence drove the train when they uncoupled the other carriages.
Apparently when they got back to the farm and were counting the money they were amazed when the count reached £1million, and a couple of hours later they were still counting and realised they had over two and a half million !
So shipping banknotes across Britain in large amounts on travelling post office trains was normal. And postal workers would sort the mail etc as the train whizzed through the night in these mobile sorting offices. And being a Bank Holiday the value of the goods and cash on the train would inflate enormously. So the train robbery was like an updated version of highwaymen ! And a good old-fashioned robbery, not like cypher crime today.
"...peter was a retired train driver who biggs said would be able to drive the hijacked train"
He was supposed to be the replacement driver but was unfamiliar with diesel trains. So Mills who had been dragged away bleeding from his head wound was brought back, and under threat of further violence drove the train when they uncoupled the other carriages.
Apparently when they got back to the farm and were counting the money they were amazed when the count reached £1million, and a couple of hours later they were still counting and realised they had over two and a half million !
I agree with your sentiments and your comments about biggs are true.he was a very minor player who did not even take part in the actual robbery
indeed he was unknown to any of the gang members except bruce reynolds who had met him in the nick and liked him
quote from biggs upon first meeting the other gang members at nell gwynn house,chelsea
I have to say they looked a pretty formidable bunch.With a few exceptions they were all big men and even though they were well dressed the majority still had the look of villains
indeed he was unknown to any of the gang members except bruce reynolds who had met him in the nick and liked him
quote from biggs upon first meeting the other gang members at nell gwynn house,chelsea
I have to say they looked a pretty formidable bunch.With a few exceptions they were all big men and even though they were well dressed the majority still had the look of villains
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