Prison log book details exact moment Ronnie Biggs went on the run

A prison log book showing the moment Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs went on the run for 36 years has gone up for sale.

The book was kept outside his cell at Wandsworth Prison and was used to note every time he moved from various sections of the jail in South London.

The final page of the book is dated July 8, 1965 and shows Biggs being signed out to the exercise yard – but not back in.

This marked the exact moment he escaped and went on the run until 2001.

The log book is among a collection of items from the infamous Great Train Robbery of 1963 set to go under the hammer in Bristol on November 15.

Also in the set is money they stole – and a ‘Get Out Of Jail’ card they infamously used in a game of Monopoly during their hideout at Leatherslade Farm in Buckinghamshire which was ultimately their downfall. 

The log book from 1965 shows Biggs being signed out to the exercise yard – but not back in

The log book was kept outside Biggs’s cell at Wandsworth Prison in South London in the 1960s

The log book is among a collection of items from the infamous Great Train Robbery up for sale

Many of the items, which relate to Biggs, have never been made available to buy before

The specialist sale by East Bristol Auctions will feature a number of items relating to the robbery, which saw £2.6million stolen from a Royal Mail train on August 8, 1963.

Many of the items, which relate to Biggs, have never been made available before.

Also within the collection are several of the actual bank notes stolen during the robbery – many of which were used in the trial against the gang.

Auctioneer Andrew Stowe said of the book: ‘It’s a truly unique piece of British history. Crime-abilia – memorabilia from famous crimes – is a huge market at the moment. 

‘It is undeniable these are artefacts from our history, and if you’re interested in the Great Train Robbery – what better piece of memorabilia can you find?

The sale by East Bristol Auctions will feature a number of items relating to the robbery

Also in the set is money they stole – and a ‘Get Out Of Jail’ card they infamously used in a game of Monopoly during their hideout at Leatherslade Farm which was ultimately their downfall

Also within the collection are several of the actual bank notes stolen during the robbery – many of which were used in the trial against the gang

The log book was kept while Biggs was held at HMP Wandsworth in South London in the 1960s

‘A lot of the artefacts we have still come with the original 1960’s Police finger-print dust, some even still in their original Evidence wallets.

The collection goes under the hammer at a military, history and transportation auction

‘At face value, these are just old ten pound notes – but once you add in their provenance, they become so much more.’

It is well known that after the robbery many of the gang escaped to a small hide-away cottage where they used the stolen cash in a game of Monopoly.

When the hideout was discovered, and the Monopoly set examined, the gang had left their fingerprints all over the game.

Mr Stowe said: ‘We have the actual ‘Get Out Of Jail Free’ card used in their Monopoly set. 

‘You can almost picture them sat there laughing and joking about this card after they had just pulled off one of the most successful heists in British history.

‘And here is that actual card, with their actual fingerprints still visible. Remarkable.’

The collection goes under the hammer at a specialist military, history and transportation auction. Biggs’s prison book carries an estimate of £1,000 to £2,000, with other items ranging from £50 to £500.

Biggs finally surrended to British police in 2001, but was freed in 2009 on health grounds. He died in December 2013. 

How the ‘crime of the century’ unfolded on a train leading to the theft of £2.6million banknotes  

The country was left stunned after a train was hijacked and robbed 35 miles from its London destination in August 1963.

A 17-strong gang launched the raid on the overnight service from Glasgow at the Bridego Railway Bridge in Ledburn, Buckinghamshire in the early hours of August 8 in what has been dubbed the ‘crime of the century’.

Led by the charismatic Bruce Reynolds, the group of criminals pulled off the notorious heist, making off with £2.6million – the equivalent of £40million today.

Police examining one of the coaches on the Glasgow to London travelling post office train in Buckinghamshire, the morning after it was attacked in August 1963

The train was stopped at a set of fixed signals which the gang had switched, leading driver Jack Mills to go and investigate.

He was knocked out by an iron bar wielded by an unknown member of the gang, forcing him to give up work, and he died seven years later.

Following an outcry over Charmian Biggs cashing in on her husband’s crime by selling her story to the Press, the Daily Mail sponsored a fund to help Mills’s family, raising more than £34,000 by the time of his death.

The bulk of the huge haul has never been recovered.

Gang member Ronnie Biggs, pictured in April 1964, spent 36 years on the run

The gang shared out the proceeds at isolated Leatherslade Farm – Biggs taking around £148,000 – but thereafter things started to go badly wrong, with nearly all the gang members being rounded up by the police.

In fact, the Leatherslade Farm hide-out was a huge mistake on the part of the gang. The police were telling reporters that they were looking for an isolated farm which had just changed hands and which was 25 miles from the scene of the crime. Leatherslade met every one of these requirements.

When the gang became aware that the police were hot on their scent, they quit the farm hurriedly, leaving behind scores of tell-tale fingerprints.

Most of the ringleaders were quickly rounded up, and 11 of the robbers got jail sentences ranging from 14 to 30 years.