The Great Train Robbery

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On 8 August 1963, a gang of thieves held up a British Royal Mail train on its journey from Glasgow to London. They stole more than £2 million. It was the biggest ever raid on a British train. Most of the robbers ended up behind bars, but most of the money has never been recovered. The robbery still occupies a unique place in the history of British crime. In 2012 Chloe Hadjimatheou spoke to Reginald Abbiss who was a young BBC journalist who covered the story. (Photo: The train involved in the robbery. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, you're listening to the witness history podcast from the BBC Wardservice.
0:10.2	We're taking you back to the 8th of August 1963, when thieves held up a Royal Mill train
0:15.9	bound for the UK's capital, London.
0:18.4	They stole millions of pounds.
0:20.4	It became known as the Great Train Robbery.
0:23.0	In 2012, Chloe Hajamethyo spoke to Reginald Abyss, who reported on the story at the time.
0:29.5	It's a barmy summer's night in August just after a public holiday.
0:33.7	A British rail train carrying post and unusually large stocks of cash is making its way from
0:39.9	the Scottish city of Glasgow down to London in the south.
0:43.8	Suddenly, it comes across a red signal and stops in the middle of nowhere.
0:48.8	Robbers climb aboard and offload more than £2.5 million in unmarked bills, and then they
0:56.1	get away.
0:57.3	It was a story that a reporter dreams about.
1:00.4	Reginald Abyss was a young journalist working for the BBC when he was asked to cover the
1:05.3	robbery.
1:06.3	The headlines were sensational.
1:08.2	The whole country was riveted by this amazing, audacious thing.
1:12.9	And I went on to the story a couple of days later.
1:16.1	The crime had involved months of intricate planning from the participants.
1:20.7	They were 15 men from two of London's biggest criminal gangs.
1:25.0	This was the first time they'd ever collaborated in this way.
1:28.3	They were regarded as the elite of the criminal world.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.