Great Train Robbery evidence to be auctioned in Kent

Evidence from the police investigation into the Great Train Robbery is to go under the hammer.

Crime scene photographs, police communications and memorabilia that led to the capture and prosecutions of those involved will be up for sale at C&T Auctioneers in Kenardington, Kent, on Sunday.

The collection is from the estate of the late Det Ch Supt Ernest Millen, from the Flying Squad who took over the investigation when the severity of the robbery became clearer.

Vince Scopes, from the auctioneers, said: “It’s important because we have potentially unseen photographs and published words to do with the Great Train Robbery that have survived all this time.”

On 8 August 1963, 15 men stole £2.6m from a Royal Mail train near Cheddington, Buckinghamshire, after tampering with signal lights.

While most of the group were eventually caught and convicted, a few involved escaped or were never conclusively identified.

“They took just 15 minutes to unload 120 sacks of money,” Mr Scopes said.

“The cash weighed two and a half tonnes, which was loaded into two parked Land Rovers, which you can see in the police evidence photos.”

The majority of stolen money was never recovered.

The evidence up for auction was part of the police investigation that led to the ringleaders and accomplices of the gang of men being sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The lots include Det Ch Supt Millen’s warrant card, press clippings, an unpublished manuscript and a detailed briefing document outlining his involvement in plans for Sir Winston Churchill’s state funeral in 1965.

Mr Scopes said: “I can see heavy interest with this as it’s the most well-known heist of the 20th Century.

“The story has been televised, it’s been written about and it’s going to draw in those people which are interested in the Great Train Robbery and other respects of police memorabilia.”