The Great Train Robbery Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bruce Reynolds

Reynolds was well known in criminal circles as a jewel thief, as well as being an accomplished housebreaker. Like his more high profile accomplice Ronnie Biggs, Reynolds became something of a fugitive following the robbery, living under a variety of aliases overseas.

Answer: Jim Wheater

It was John Wheater, not Jim, who was part of the gang.
John Wheater was a public school educated solicitor who provided somewhere for his partners in crime to hide following the felony - Leatherslade Farm in Oxfordshire, although this would eventually prove to be the biggest mistake the robbers made, culminating in their arrest.

Answer: False

Jack Mills was the unlucky victim who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was hit over the head with an iron bar and, while the bruising and black eye cleared up, he never really fully recovered from the attack, being prone to constant trauma headaches for the rest of his life. He died from leukemia in 1970.

Answer: Buckinghamshire

The heist took place at Bridego Railway Bridge in Ledburn (near Mentmore) on 8 August 1963. If you went for Leicestershire, you probably had the Phil Collins movie "Buster" at the back of your mind, as several of the scenes were filmed there.

Answer: Slipper

Even after Jack Slipper's retirement, he continued to hunt down the criminals involved, in his lifelong quest for justice. He was also involved in the notorious Massacre of Braybrook Street, in which three police officers were shot dead in London's East Acton area.
Slipper died in August 2005 after fighting cancer for several years.

Answer: Ronald Edwards

Edwards, a former boxer, initially fled the UK for Mexico, but eventually he gave himself up to the authorities and was sentenced to 15 years in jail. He hanged himself in 1994.

Answer: Glasgow to London

Locomotive D326 was a Travelling Post Office train. Bruce Reynolds, using a portable radio, gave the word and false signals were activated, causing the train to stop. The robbers made off with around two and a half million pounds, which was the equivalent of forty million pounds in 2006.

Answer: Ronnie Biggs

Biggs was located by officials in Rio de Janiero in 1974, but was unable to be extradited as his girlfriend at the time - a nightclub dancer and prostitute - was pregnant with his child. Brazilian law prevented the extradition of the parent of a Brazilian child.
True to his newfound "celebrity" status, Biggs even made the top ten of the UK singles chart when he featured on the Sex Pistols' single "No One Is Innocent" in 1978.

Answer: Alabama 3

The Welsh band based the entire album around Reynolds, as well as other British outlaws, when it occurred to them that the only one that was celebrated in any kind of folk song was "Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen".

Answer: None

The plan was not to inflict injury on any of the crew members, but it didn't quite work out that way. Aside from driver Jack Mills being coshed over the head with an iron bar (his assailant was never captured nor identified), various workers were bound, gagged or pushed down embankments, terrified.
Many people remember the robbery with great affection, and it was an impressive coup, but the fact that certain people were left with indelible emotional scars should never be forgotten.