Most people hear the name Ronnie Biggs and think of a larger-than-life fugitive, a tabloid staple, almost a character. But he was a real person tied to a real crime, the 1963 Great Train Robbery, and the harm that came with it.
Biggs’s story still matters because it shows how one high-profile robbery can echo for decades, through courts, prisons, extradition fights, and media attention that sometimes blurs what’s true. Our goal here is simple: separate documented fact from the myths that built up around him.
Some details are also messy. Reports don’t always match on who did what, who knew what, and what happened to the missing money. When something isn’t clear, we’ll say so.
Who Was Ronnie Biggs, and How Did He End Up in the Great Train Robbery?
Ronald Arthur Biggs was born on 8 August 1929 in South London (Stockwell). Before he became famous, he wasn’t famous at all. He was in trouble early, with a record that included theft and attempted robbery.
He also served in the Royal Air Force, but his time there ended badly. Credible accounts link his discharge to desertion, connected to criminal behavior while he was absent without leave. After that, his life kept circling back to crime, including car theft and other robberies.
By the early 1960s, Biggs was moving in the kind of circles where bigger jobs were discussed, planned, and funded. The Great Train Robbery wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment raid. It involved a crew of about 15 men, preparation, and a clear plan to intercept a specific train carrying mail and cash.
Biggs later became one of the best-known names from the case, but that’s partly because of what happened after his conviction: his escape and decades abroad.
The 8 August 1963 robbery: what happened, what was stolen, and where
In the early hours of 8 August 1963, the Glasgow to London Royal Mail train was stopped near Bridego Bridge (often cited as being in Buckinghamshire). The gang took around £2.6 million in cash (frequently described as used banknotes).
If you’ve seen wildly different “today’s money” figures, that’s normal. Inflation estimates vary by method and year, so modern equivalents are often stated as a wide range.
The robbery also involved violence. Train driver Jack Mills was struck and forced to move the train to a spot the gang had chosen for unloading. Widely reported accounts say he never fully recovered from the injuries.
Biggs’s role in the gang, and what we can and cannot say for sure
Biggs is often described as a minor participant, not the leader. The robbery is commonly associated with other figures as organizers, such as Bruce Reynolds.
One frequently repeated detail about Biggs’s assigned job was helping arrange a driver to move the train after it was stopped. The recruited driver is sometimes referred to by nicknames and an uncertain identity in reporting, and accounts differ on the exact name used. What stays consistent is the outcome: the plan failed because the driver could not properly operate that type of locomotive, and others forced the train’s driver to do it.
Past that, we should be careful. Sources don’t agree on every action Biggs took during the robbery itself, and it’s easy to slip into guesswork. What’s supported is that he was part of the group responsible for an armed robbery that caused serious harm, even if he wasn’t the mastermind.
Arrest, Prison Escape, and Life on the Run in Australia and Brazil
After the robbery, there was a major investigation and a wave of arrests. Biggs was caught, tried, and sentenced, but that was not the end of the story. It was the beginning of his long second life as a fugitive, built from practical steps (false papers, travel routes) and a constant need to stay ahead of the police.
Here’s the basic timeline, based on widely documented dates:
| Year | Event | What’s documented |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Great Train Robbery | 8 August, near Bridego Bridge, about £2.6 million was stolen |
| 1964 | Conviction | 30-year sentence for Biggs |
| 1965 | Prison escape | 8 July, rope ladder escape from Wandsworth |
| 1966–1969 | Australia | Sydney area, then South Australia, and later Melbourne |
| 2001 | Return to UK | Return to the UK |
| 2009–2013 | Final years | Compassionate release August 2009, death 18 Dec 2013 |
The trial and the 30-year sentence, why the punishment was so severe
Biggs was convicted in 1964 and sentenced to 30 years. That sentence often surprises modern readers, but the context matters. The Great Train Robbery was seen as a direct challenge to public safety and state authority, and courts clearly wanted strong penalties after such a high-profile armed crime.
Investigators also traced the gang to Leatherslade Farm, a hideout linked to the robbery. Forensic evidence helped identify suspects, including Biggs. A commonly cited example is his fingerprints found on an item left behind (often reported as a bottle).
Escape from Wandsworth in 1965 and the flight through Europe
On 8 July 1965, Biggs escaped Wandsworth Prison using a homemade rope ladder to get over the wall, then dropping into a waiting vehicle described as a removal van.
After that, he moved quickly through Europe, including Brussels and Paris. In Paris, he used new identity papers and underwent plastic surgery, a step that shows how planned and funded his escape was.
Accounts also say much of his robbery share went toward escape costs, travel, legal help, and surgery. Exact breakdowns vary by source, so it’s safer to treat the numbers as approximate rather than a perfect ledger.
Australia to Brazil, and how a fugitive became a public figure
Biggs reached Australia in 1966, living in places including Sydney and Glenelg near Adelaide, later spending time in Melbourne. By 1969, pressure increased after his location was exposed in reporting, and he fled again, traveling by ship and routing through Panama before reaching Brazil.
Brazil became central for two reasons: limits on extradition at the time, and Biggs’s personal ties there, including a Brazilian child. In 1974, journalists identified him in Rio de Janeiro, which pushed him into global notoriety.
Later, he used that notoriety to earn money and attention, including recording vocals connected to the Sex Pistols’ orbit in the late 1970s. None of this changes the core fact: he was a convicted robber who had escaped prison.
Return to the UK, Health Decline, and the Debate Around His Legacy
By the late 1990s and early 2000s, Biggs’s health was failing, with strokes widely reported. In May 2001, after roughly 35 to 36 years on the run, he returned to the United Kingdom and was arrested on arrival.
He spent the next years in custody as his health declined further. In August 2009, he was released on compassionate grounds due to severe illness. He died on 18 December 2013 in Barnet, north London, aged 84.
The argument about his legacy is still with us. Some people treated him like a folk figure, mostly because he embarrassed authorities and stayed free for so long. Others see that attitude as flat-out wrong, especially given the violence against Jack Mills and the scale of the theft.
Why he came back in 2001 and what happened next
The verified part is straightforward: he came back, he was arrested, and he returned to prison.
The motives are less certain. Public reporting has suggested medical care, a desire to come home, and possible media money, but we can’t treat any single reason as the full truth without access to private records and intent.
Compassionate release, death in 2013, and what remains unsettled
Biggs’s compassionate release in August 2009 followed years of serious illness, with pneumonia and stroke effects often mentioned in credible coverage. He died in December 2013.
Readers still ask the same unresolved questions:
- How much of the stolen money was ever recovered?
- What happened to the cash that wasn’t found?
- Did Biggs truly profit long-term, or did notoriety outlast any real wealth?
The honest answer is that records are incomplete, and stories conflict. What’s consistent is that most of the money was never recovered, and certainty gets harder as decades pass.
Conclusion
Ronnie Biggs’s life follows a stark arc: the 1963 Great Train Robbery, conviction in 1964, escape in 1965, decades abroad, return in 2001, compassionate release in 2009, and death in 2013.
If we strip away the noise, what’s left is not a legend, but a case study in how crime and fame can tangle up in public memory. Biggs’s name traveled far, but so did the consequences, including real violence and unanswered questions about missing money.
It’s worth holding onto that steady point: facts last, even when the myths are louder.
