Editing Great Train Robbery (1963) (section)

==Robbers and accomplices==
[[File:Terence hogan and group of train robbers. Terence is blonde at looking at camera. The wives sit opposite.jpg|thumb|Men, right to left: [[Bruce Reynolds]], John Daly, [[Terence Hogan]], Michael Ball, and [[Charlie Wilson (criminal)|Charlie Wilson]]. Reynolds, Daly, and Wilson participated in the Great Train Robbery.]]
The gang consisted of 17 full members who were to receive an equal share, including the men who were at the robbery and two key informants.

The gang that carried out the robbery consisted of 15 criminals predominantly from south London: Gordon Goody, [[Charlie Wilson (criminal)|Charlie Wilson]], [[Buster Edwards]], [[Bruce Reynolds]], Roy James, John Daly, Roger Cordrey, Jimmy White, Bob Welch, Tommy Wisbey, Jim Hussey, and [[Ronnie Biggs]], as well as Harry Smith and Danny Pembroke, who were never charged due to the lack of evidence against them, and one still unknown, plus the train driver they nicknamed "Pop". The best-known member of the gang, Biggs, had only a minor role—to recruit the train driver.

===The robbers===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! colspan=12 | Great Train Robbers<ref name="Reynolds 1995"/><ref>{{cite web|title=RonnieBiggs|url=http://www.ronniebiggs.com/?page_id=7|access-date=12 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304113441/http://www.ronniebiggs.com/?page_id=7|archive-date=4 March 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
!
! scope="col" style="width:200px;"| Name
! scope="col" style="width:50px;"| Age on <br />day of<br />robbery
! scope="col" style="width:200px;"| Born
! scope="col" style="width:200px;"| Died
! scope="col" style="width:300px;"| Role in the Gang
! scope="col" style="width:300px;"| Association
! scope="col" style="width:50px;"| At<br />the<br />scene
! scope="col" style="width:50px;"| Loot split
! scope="col" style="width:100px;"| Captured
! scope="col" style="width:100px;"| Left prison
|-
| 1 || {{sort|reynolds|[[Bruce Richard Reynolds]]}} || 31 || 7 September 1931<ref name="jpbean">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/feb/28/bruce-reynolds|title=Bruce Reynolds obituary|first=JP|last=Bean|work=The Guardian|date=28 February 2013|access-date=27 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913161342/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/feb/28/bruce-reynolds|archive-date=13 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> || 28 February 2013<ref name="jpbean"/> || Leader of the gang || Leader of the South West Gang || Yes || 1/17 || 8 November 1968 || 1978
|-
| 2 || {{sort|goody|Douglas Gordon Goody}} || 33 || 11 March 1930<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/> || 29 January 2016<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/29/great-train-robbery-gordon-goody-dies-aged-86 |title = Great Train Robber Gordon Goody dies aged 86 |website = [[TheGuardian.com]] |date = 29 January 2016 |access-date = 14 December 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170106110224/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/29/great-train-robbery-gordon-goody-dies-aged-86 |archive-date = 6 January 2017 |url-status = live }}</ref> || Deputy and organiser || Member of the South West Gang || Yes || 1/17 || 3 October 1963 || 23 December 1975
|-
| 3 || {{sort|wison|[[Charlie Wilson (criminal)|Charles Frederick Wilson]]}} || 31 || 30 June 1932<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/> || 23 April 1990 <small>(assassinated)</small><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-wil.htm |title=Thames Valley Police – The Great Train robbery – Charlie Wilson (Charles Frederick Wilson) |publisher=Thamesvalley.police.uk |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220075159/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-wil.htm |archive-date=20 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> || "Treasurer" and organiser || Member of the South West Gang || Yes || 1/17 || 22 August 1963 <small>(Initial)</small><br> 24 January 1968 <small>(Recaptured)</small> || 12 August 1964 <small>(Escaped)</small><br> 15 September 1978 <small>(Last one released)</small>
|-
| 4 || {{sort|Edwards|[[Buster Edwards|Ronald Christopher Edwards]]}} || 32 || 27 January 1931<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/> || 28 November 1994 <small>(possibly suicide)</small> || Organiser || Member of the South West Gang || Yes || 1/17 || 19 September 1966 <small>(Voluntary)</small> || April 1975
|-
| 5 || {{sort|field|[[Brian Field|Brian Arthur Field]]}} || 29 || 15 December 1934<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/> || 27 April 1979 <small>(car crash)</small><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-fieldb.htm |title=Thames Valley Police – The Great Train robbery – Brian Arthur Field |publisher=Thamesvalley.police.uk |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220075300/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-fieldb.htm |archive-date=20 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> || Key informant and organiser of the mock purchase of Leatherslade Farm, the gang's hideout || Solicitor's clerk and organised the defence of Gordon Goody and Buster Edwards in previous court cases || No || 1/17 || 15 September 1963 || 1967
|-
| 6 || {{sort|unknown|''Ulsterman'' <br> <small>possibly Patrick McKenna<ref name="Tracy McVeigh"/> or Sammy Osterman<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/03/true-identity-great-train-robber-known-ulsterman-finally-revealed/|title=True identity of the Great Train Robber known as 'The Ulsterman' finally revealed|first=Martin|last=Evans|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=3 August 2019|via=www.telegraph.co.uk|access-date=3 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803164628/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/03/true-identity-great-train-robber-known-ulsterman-finally-revealed/|archive-date=3 August 2019|url-status=live}}</ref></small>}} || || || || Key informant and organiser || Contact with Gordon Goody and Buster Edwards arranged through another man who contacted Brian Field|| No || 1/17|| ||
|-
| 7 || {{sort|james|Roy John James}} || 28 || 30 August 1935<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/> || 21 August 1997<ref name="books.google.co.uk">{{cite book | last1=Russell-Pavier | first1=N. | last2=Richards | first2=S. | title=The Great Train Robbery: Crime of the Century: The Definitive Account | publisher=Orion | year=2013 | isbn=978-0-297-86440-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6KSaWB4zMzMC&q=roger+cordrey+1921&pg=PT328 | access-date=20 December 2013 | page=328}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-jam.htm |title=Thames Valley Police – The Great Train robbery – Roy John James |publisher=Thamesvalley.police.uk |date=21 August 1997 |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220074956/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-jam.htm |archive-date=20 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ||Getaway driver and carriage uncoupler ||Associate of South West Gang || Yes || 1/17 || 10 December 1963 || August 1975
|-
| 8 || {{sort|daly|John Thomas Daly}} || 32 || 6 June 1931<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/> || April 2013<ref name="cornishguardian.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.cornishguardian.co.uk/Train-robber-John-Daly-won-respect-Launceston/story-18847198-detail/story.html|title=Train robber John Daly won respect as Launceston dustman|work=Cornish Guardian|access-date=27 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923210727/http://www.cornishguardian.co.uk/Train-robber-John-Daly-won-respect-Launceston/story-18847198-detail/story.html|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-daly.htm |title=Thames Valley Police – The Great Train robbery – John Thomas Daly |publisher=Thamesvalley.police.uk |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220075059/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-daly.htm |archive-date=20 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> || Train stopper and getaway driver || Brother in law of Reynolds and associate of South West Gang || Yes || 1/17 || 3 December 1963 || N/A <small>Acquitted 14 February 1964</small>
|-
| 9 || {{sort|smith|''Unconfirmed'' <small>Believed to be Henry Thomas Smith</small>}}|| || || || Carriage uncoupler || Associate of South West Gang || Yes || 1/17|| ||
|-
| 10 || {{sort|white|James Edward White}} || 43 || 21 February 1920<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/> || Before 2000<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-white.htm |title=Thames Valley Police – The Great Train robbery – James 'Jimmy' Edward White |publisher=Thamesvalley.police.uk |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220074752/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-white.htm |archive-date=20 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> || Quartermaster and carriage uncoupler || Generally solitary thief who knew Reynolds || Yes || 1/17 || 21 April 1966 || April 1975
|-
| 11 || {{sort|unknown|''Identity unknown''}} || || || || Muscle || Associate of Jimmy White || Yes || 1/17 || ||
|-
| 12 || {{sort|cordey|Roger John Cordrey}} || 42 || 30 May 1921<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/> || 2011<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-cord.htm |title=Thames Valley Police – The Great Train robbery – Roger John Cordrey |publisher=Thamesvalley.police.uk |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220075253/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-cord.htm |archive-date=20 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> || Train stopper and electronics expert || Leader of the South Coast Raiders || Yes || 1/17 || 14 August 1963 || April 1971
|-
| 13 || {{sort|welch|Robert Welch}} || 34 || 12 March 1929<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-wel.htm |title=Thames Valley Police – The Great Train robbery – Robert Alfred Welch |publisher=Thamesvalley.police.uk |date=14 June 1976 |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220075205/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-wel.htm |archive-date=20 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>|| October 2023<ref>{{cite news |last1=Saleem |first1=Zesha |title=Last surviving member of Great Train Robbery Bobby Welch dies after Alzheimer's battle |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/last-surviving-member-great-train-31348320 |access-date=2 November 2023 |work=The Mirror |date=2 November 2023}}</ref> || Muscle || South Coast Raiders || Yes || 1/17 || 25 October 1963 || June 1976
|-
| 14 || {{sort|wisbey|Thomas William Wisbey}} || 33 || 27 April 1930<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/> || 30 December 2016 || Muscle || South Coast Raiders || Yes || 1/17 || 11 September 1963 || February 1976
|-
| 15 || {{sort|hussey|James Hussey}} || 31 || 8 April 1933<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/> || 12 November 2012 <small>(died in a hospice)</small><ref name="independent.co.uk">{{cite news|title=James Hussey: Great Train Robber who made a disputed confession on his deathbed|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/james-hussey-great-train-robber-who-made-a-disputed-confession-on-his-deathbed-8320564.html|work=The Independent|access-date=17 November 2012|location=London|date=15 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221192248/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/james-hussey-great-train-robber-who-made-a-disputed-confession-on-his-deathbed-8320564.html|archive-date=21 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> || Muscle || South Coast Raiders || Yes || 1/17 || 7 September 1963 || 1975<ref name="independent.co.uk"/>
|-
| 16 || {{sort|pembroke|Danny Pembroke}} || 27 ||1936 ||2015 || Muscle || South Coast Raiders || Yes || 1/17|| ||
|-
| 17 || {{sort|biggs|[[Ronald Arthur Biggs]]}} || 34 || 8 August 1929<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/> || 18 December 2013 || Contact for replacement train driver || Associate of Reynolds || Yes || 1/17 || 4 September 1963<small> (Initial capture)</small><br>7 May 2001<small>(Voluntary return to UK)</small> || 8 July 1965<small> (Escaped)</small><br> 7 August 2009 <small> (Total time Served: 3,875 days)</small>
|-
| 18 || {{sort|unknown|''Identity unknown''}} || 67 || || || Replacement train driver (failed) || via Ronnie Biggs || Yes || || ||
|-
|}

===Bruce Reynolds===
[[Bruce Reynolds|Bruce Richard Reynolds]] was born on 7 September 1931 at [[Charing Cross Hospital]], [[Strand, London]], to Thomas Richard and Dorothy Margaret (née Keen). His mother died in 1935, and he had trouble living with his father and stepmother, so he often stayed with one or other of his grandmothers. Reynolds was jailed for three years on several counts of breaking and entering, and upon his release quickly started re-offending. He soon joined a gang with best friend John Daly (future brother-in-law). They were mentored by South Western gang leaders Ernie Watts and Terry Hogan (a.k.a. Harry Booth). Also, he did some work with Jimmy White and met Buster Edwards at [[Charlie Richardson]]'s club. Richardson in turn introduced him to Gordon Goody.<ref name="Reynolds 1995">{{cite book|title=''Crossing The Line: Autobiography of a Thief''|year=1995|author=[[Bruce Reynolds|Reynolds, Bruce]] |publisher=Bantam Press|isbn=1-8522-7929-X}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2020}}{{unreliable source?|date=August 2020}}{{primary source inline|date=August 2020}}

After the train heist, Reynolds escaped to Mexico with his wife, Angela, and young son, [[Nick Reynolds (sculptor)|Nick Reynolds]] (who later became a member of the band [[Alabama 3]], whose song "[[Woke Up This Morning]]" was the opening theme of ''[[The Sopranos]]''<ref name="Adam Bernstin, The Washington Post A26">{{cite journal|journal=Newsday|title=Bruce Reynolds, 'Robbery' architect|author=Adam Bernstin, ''The Washington Post''|date=2 March 2013|page=A26}}</ref>) and lived lavishly with his share of the take, approximately £150,000. When that money ran out, Reynolds moved his family to Canada and then France under false identities, in search of work, before returning to the United Kingdom to pursue opportunities promised by his old criminal contacts. He was arrested in 1968 in [[Torquay]]<ref name="Adam Bernstin, The Washington Post A26"/> and sentenced to 25 years in jail. He was released a decade later.<ref name=Lawless>{{cite news|title=UK 'Great Train Robber' Bruce Reynolds dies at 81|date=28 February 2013<!-- 8:54 AM, Updated: 28 February 2013 10:30 AM-->|author=Jill Lawless (Associated Press)|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/uk-great-train-robber-bruce-reynolds-dies-81|access-date=18 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516190420/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/uk-great-train-robber-bruce-reynolds-dies-81|archive-date=16 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

Reynolds was sent back to prison in the mid-1980s for dealing amphetamines.<ref name="Adam Bernstin, The Washington Post A26"/> He produced occasional journalism pieces, was a consultant on movie and book projects about the train heist, and published a well-regarded crime memoir, ''Crossing the Line: The Autobiography of a Thief'' (1995).<ref name="Reynolds 1995"/><ref name="Adam Bernstin, The Washington Post A26"/><ref name=Lawless/> In a 2003 interview, Reynolds recalled: "from an early age I always wanted a life of adventure." He was rejected by the [[Royal Navy]] because of poor eyesight, and then tried to become a foreign correspondent, but his highest achievement in that vein was to become a clerk at the ''[[Daily Mail]]''. While his life in crime did provide excitement, Reynolds said in 2003, "I've always felt that I can't escape my past. And in many ways, I feel that it is like a line from the '[[Rime of the Ancient Mariner|Ancient Mariner]]' and that the notoriety was like an albatross around my neck."<ref name=Lawless/> Reynolds died aged 81 on 28 February 2013 after a brief illness.<ref name="Adam Bernstin, The Washington Post A26"/><ref name=Lawless/> He was survived by his son Nick.<ref name=bbc28022013>{{cite news|title=Great Train Robber Bruce Reynolds dies aged 81|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21617926|access-date=28 February 2013|work=BBC News|date=28 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228164522/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21617926|archive-date=28 February 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Douglas Gordon Goody===
Authorities regarded Douglas Gordon Goody as the mastermind of the operation.<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news | title =Great Train Robber who got away will be named | work =The Guardian | date =4 August 2013 | url =https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/04/great-train-robbery-mystery-fixer | access-date =4 August 2013 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20131220075004/http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/04/great-train-robbery-mystery-fixer | archive-date =20 December 2013 | url-status =live }}</ref> He first made contact with 'The Ulsterman' in a meeting set up by Brian Field in Finsbury Park. Of [[Northern Irish people|Northern Irish]] descent, Goody was born in [[Putney]], London in March 1930 and was still living there in his mother's flat at the time of the robbery. In the early 1960s, he joined Buster Edwards' gang and helped rob various easy targets.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Read |first1=Piers Paul |title=The Train Robbers: their story |date=1978 |publisher=W.H. Allen |location=London |isbn=0340237791 |pages=28–36 |edition=Coronet}}</ref> In August 1963, he was arrested in connection with the Great Train Robbery and taken to the [[Leicester City Police Headquarters]] for questioning by Detective Chief Inspector Peter Vibart of the [[Flying Squad]].<ref>{{cite book| title=The Great Train Robbery and the Metropolitan Police Flying Squad | chapter=Gordon Goody | last=Platt | first=Geoff | date=2015 | publisher=[[Pen & Sword Books]] | isbn=978-1473857469 }}</ref> Sentenced to 30 years for his role in the crime, he was released from prison in 1975. Goody then moved to the white-washed town of [[Mojácar]] in Almería, Spain, where he ran a beachfront bar. 

In a September 2014 interview, Goody claimed the identity of 'The Ulsterman' was one Patrick McKenna, a postal employee. The interview was shown in a documentary marking the 50th anniversary of the robbery, called ''The Great Train Robbery: A Tale of Two Thieves''.<ref name="theguardian" /> The documentary makers employed social worker [[Ariel Bruce]], who finds missing family members, to trace McKenna. Discovered after obtaining records through the Freedom of Information Act, McKenna had died some years previously. However, Bruce made contact with McKenna's family and obtained copies of photographs, which Goody confirmed to be the same person he had met 50 years earlier.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.economicvoice.com/the-great-train-robbery-a-tale-of-two-thieves-will-reveal-the-identity-of-the-mastermind/|title=The Great Train Robbery: A Tale of Two Thieves - The Economic Voice|work=economicvoice.com|access-date=27 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923233312/http://www.economicvoice.com/the-great-train-robbery-a-tale-of-two-thieves-will-reveal-the-identity-of-the-mastermind/|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The documentary was shown in cinemas and on-demand in October 2014. It suggests that McKenna never benefitted from the money, but instead gave it to the Catholic Church. It suggests McKenna was motivated by the failure of the post office to provide better security for the night train staff, and he had hoped the robbery would be a wake up call. Goody died of emphysema on 29 January 2016 at the age of 85.<ref name=NYT_bio_death>{{cite news |last1=Roberts |first1=Sam |title=Gordon Goody, a Leader of the Gang in the Great Train Robbery, Dies at 85 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/03/world/europe/gordon-goody-leader-of-the-gang-in-the-great-train-robbery-dies-at-85.html |access-date=1 June 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=2 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203140654/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/03/world/europe/gordon-goody-leader-of-the-gang-in-the-great-train-robbery-dies-at-85.html |quote=No cause was specified, but he was reported to have had emphysema. |archive-date=3 February 2016}}</ref>

===Charles Frederick (Charlie) Wilson===
The most dangerous of the Great Train Robbers was 'the Silent Man' [[Charlie Wilson (criminal)|Charlie Wilson]]. He was born on 30 June 1932 to Bill and Mabel Wilson in [[Battersea]]. His friends from childhood were Jimmy Hussey, Tommy Wisbey, Bruce Reynolds and Gordon Goody. Later on, he met [[Buster Edwards|Ronald 'Buster' Edwards]] and the young driving enthusiasts Mickey Ball and Roy James, who had taken up car theft. From 1948 to 1950 he was called up for [[national service]], and in 1955 he married Patricia (Pat) Osbourne, with whom he had three children. He turned to crime early in life and spurned his father's legitimate but low-income wage. While he did have legitimate work in his in-laws' grocer's shop, he also was a thief and his criminal proceeds went into buying shares in various gambling enterprises. He went to jail for short spells for numerous offences. In 1960, he began to work with Bruce Reynolds and planned to get into the criminal big league.<ref>''Killing Charlie'' (2004) by Wensley Clarkson</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2020}}

===Ronald "Buster" Edwards===
[[Buster Edwards|Ronald Christopher Edwards]] was born on 27 January 1932 at [[Lambeth]], London, the son of a barman. After leaving school, he worked in a sausage factory, where he began his criminal career by stealing meat to sell on the post-war black market. During his national service in the [[RAF]] he was detained for stealing cigarettes. When he returned to [[South London]], he ran a drinking club and became a professional criminal. He married June Rose in 1952. They had a daughter, Nicky.<ref name="The Train Robbers 1978">The Train Robbers (1978) by Piers Paul Read</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2020}} In his final years he ran a flower stall outside Waterloo station in London.

===Brian Field===
[[Brian Field|Brian Arthur Field]] was born on 15 December 1934 and was immediately put up for adoption. He served two years in the [[Royal Army Service Corps]], seeing service during the [[Korean War]]. Although soldiers in the Service Corps were considered combat personnel, they were primarily associated with transport and logistics. When he was discharged from the military, it was with "a very good character".<ref>Peter Gutteridge ''Crime Archive: The Great Train Robbery''</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2020}}

Field later became a solicitor's managing clerk for John Wheater & Co. Although he was only 28 at the time of the robbery, he was already apparently more prosperous than his boss, John Wheater. Field drove a new Jaguar and had a house, "Kabri" (an amalgam of Karin and Brian [Field]), with his wife at the Bridle Path, [[Whitchurch Hill]], Oxfordshire, while his boss owned a battered Ford and lived in a run-down neighbourhood. Part of the reason for Field's prosperity was that he was not averse to giving Goody and Edwards information about what his clients had in their country houses, making them prime targets for the thieves.<ref name="Reynolds 1995"/>{{page needed|date=August 2020}}{{unreliable source?|date=August 2020}}{{primary source inline|date=August 2020}} On one occasion he described the contents and layout of a house near Weybridge where his wife Karin had once been a nanny.<ref>Piers Paul Read ''The Train Robbers'' (1978), pp.27–29</ref>

Prior to the robbery Field had represented Buster Edwards and Gordon Goody. He had arranged Edwards' defence when he had been caught with a stolen car and had met Goody at a nightclub in [[Soho]]. Field was called upon to assist in Goody's defence in the aftermath of the "Airport Job", which was a robbery carried out on 27 November 1962 at BOAC Comet House, Hatton Cross, [[London Heathrow Airport|London Airport]]. This was the big practice robbery that the South West Gang had done before the Great Train Robbery.<ref name="Reynolds 1995"/>{{page needed|date=August 2020}}{{unreliable source?|date=August 2020}}{{primary source inline|date=August 2020}} Field was successful in arranging bail for Goody and Charlie Wilson.

==="The Ulsterman"===
In 2014, Douglas Goody claimed to journalists that "The Ulsterman" was Patrick McKenna, at the time of the robbery a 43-year-old postal worker living in [[Salford]], [[Lancashire]].
McKenna, who was originally from [[Belfast]], met Goody four times in 1963. Goody alleged that he found out McKenna's name only when he saw it written inside his spectacles case.

It is not known what became of the share McKenna allegedly received, but his children were "flabbergasted" on hearing the claim of their father's involvement. It was surmised that McKenna either donated his share to the [[Catholic church]] over the years or had had the money stolen from him.<ref name="Tracy McVeigh">{{cite news|title=The quiet Great Train Robber reveals identity of the gang's mystery insider|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/28/great-train-robber-douglas-gordon-goody-reveals-identity-mystery-inside|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=28 September 2014|first=Tracy|last=McVeigh|date=28 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715230822/http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/28/great-train-robber-douglas-gordon-goody-reveals-identity-mystery-inside|archive-date=15 July 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

This alleged identification of McKenna as "The Ulsterman" has been disputed; not least because McKenna appears to have had no criminal record or associations and died poor. It has been suggested<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/> that a known associate of the convicted robbers, Sammy Osterman, was part of the gang, and his "Ulsterman" soubriquet was simply the result of mishearing his surname.

===Accomplices===
William Gerald Boal (22 October 1913 – 26 June 1970), an accomplice after the fact of Roger Cordrey, was convicted as being one of the robbers, despite playing a role no different from the many other accomplices of the various train robbers. Boal died in jail.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-boal.htm |title=Thames Valley Police – The Great Train robbery – William (Bill) Gerald Boal |publisher=Thamesvalley.police.uk |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220074653/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-boal.htm |archive-date=20 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=chris |url=http://www.ronniebiggs.com/?p=826 |title=William Boal: The Great Train Robbery's forgotten victim |publisher=Ronnie Biggs |date=14 August 2013 |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220095012/http://www.ronniebiggs.com/?p=826 |archive-date=20 December 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=June 2019}}

Leonard "Lennie" Denis Field (born 1931, date of death unknown)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-field.htm |title=Thames Valley Police – The Great Train robbery – Leonard Dennis Field |publisher=Thamesvalley.police.uk |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220075255/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-field.htm |archive-date=20 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> helped with the purchase of the Leatherslade Farm hideout, paying the deposit of £5,000 in return for a 'drink' of £12,000. Lennie Field was allowed to think that the plan was to hijack a lorry load of cigarettes.<ref>The Train Robbers, Piers Paul Read, P.74</ref> Despite not being in on the robbery, he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years (20 years for conspiracy to rob and five years for obstructing justice), which was later reduced to five. He was released from jail in 1967 and went to live in north London.

John Denby Wheater (born 17 December 1921,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-wheat.htm |title=Thames Valley Police – The Great Train robbery – John Denby Wheater |publisher=Thamesvalley.police.uk |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220075156/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/aboutus/aboutus-museum/aboutus-museum-gtr/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang/aboutus-museum-gtr-gang-wheat.htm |archive-date=20 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> died 18 July 1985<ref>Source: Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Site accessed on 21 January 2018.</ref>) was the employer of Brian Field. He was convicted and sentenced to three years. He died in Harrogate, near Leeds, aged 63.