The operation was masterminded by Bruce Reynolds, a career criminal who had a flair for planning and the contacts to put together a multi-disciplinary team. The raid went relatively smoothly: in under an hour, the gang transferred 120 mail sacks bulging with cash into a stolen army truck. But, during the robbery, train driver Jack Mills was hit on the head, an injury from which he never fully recovered. He died of leukaemia in 1970.

300 years in prison
The gang left fingerprints at their farmhouse hideout and, as a result, 12 of them were quickly brought to trial. Reynolds went on the run and was eventually caught and convicted in 1969. The gang were sentenced to a total of more than 300 years in prison.

The daring nature of the robbery caught the public's imagination. But the story of one gang member in particular became a modern folk tale. Ronnie Biggs played a minor role in the robbery. But he hit the headlines when he escaped from Wandsworth prison in 1965. He had plastic surgery to alter his appearance and fled to Australia. Scotland Yard detectives almost caught him in 1970 and he was forced to flee again - this time to Brazil.

International celebrity
Biggs made a home for himself in Rio de Janeiro, becoming an international celebrity. He even made records with the Sex Pistols. British attempts to have him extradited were thwarted because he had a son with a Brazilian woman. In 2001, Biggs returned to Britain after suffering a stroke. Despite his poor health, he was arrested and taken to Belmarsh Prison to serve out the remainder of his original sentence.