The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.61 million, from a Royal Mail train heading from Glasgow to London on the West Coast Main Line in the early hours of 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England.
Kate Barker, better known as Ma Barker, was the mother of several American criminals who ran the Barker–Karpis Gang during the "public enemy era" when the exploits of gangs of criminals in the Midwestern United States gripped the American people and press. She traveled with her sons during their criminal careers.
Harry "Pete" Pierpont was a Prohibition era gangster, convicted murderer and bank robber. He was a friend and mentor to John Dillinger.
The Great Train Robbery is a bestselling 1975 historical novel written by Michael Crichton, his third novel under his own name and his thirteenth novel overall. Originally published in the US by Alfred A. Knopf, it was later published by Avon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. The novel tells the story of the Great Gold Robbery of 1855, a massive gold heist that takes place on a train travelling through Victorian-era England on 22 May 1855. Most of the book takes place in London. A 1978 film adaptation was written and directed by Crichton.
Brenden James Abbott is a convicted Australian bank robber. He is reported to have stolen and hidden millions of dollars, and was dubbed "the postcard bandit" by police seeking media coverage.
Edward James Adams was a notorious American criminal and spree killer in the Midwest. He murdered seven people–including three policemen—over a period of around 14 months, and wounded at least a dozen others. At age 34, Adams was surrounded and then killed by police in Wichita, Kansas.
Ezra Allen Miner, more popularly known as Bill Miner, was an American bandit, originally from Kentucky, who served several prison terms for stagecoach robbery. Known for his unusual politeness while committing robberies, he was widely nicknamed the Grey Fox, Gentleman Robber or the Gentleman Bandit. He is reputed to have been the originator of the phrase "Hands up!" Legend has it that Bill Miner admonished his cohorts to fire their guns when in danger of capture but "do not kill a man".
Karl John Langdon is a sports commentator and radio personality in Western Australia and a former Australian rules footballer with the Subiaco Football Club and the West Coast Eagles.
Gerald Chapman, known as "The Count of Gramercy Park", "The Gentleman Bandit", and "Gentleman Gerald", was an American criminal who helped lead an early Prohibition-era gang from 1919 until the mid-1920s. His nicknames came from his ability to pose as a member of the wealthy elite, which allowed him to fool potential victims and avoid scrutiny from investigators. Chapman was the first criminal to be dubbed "Public Enemy Number One" by the press.
Morris Lynn Johnson is a Kentucky-born criminal, whose crimes include armed robbery, escape and rescue, bank robbery, and assaulting a police officer. He was briefly listed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list in 1976.
Thomas Marius Joseph Butler was a Detective Chief Superintendent in the Metropolitan Police in London. He was most notable for leading the team of detectives that investigated the Great Train Robbery in 1963. He never married and lived with his mother. Butler was arguably the most renowned head of the Flying Squad in its history. He became known as "One Day" Tommy for the speed with which he apprehended criminals and the "Grey Fox" for his shrewdness.
George William Birdwell was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. He was one of Pretty Boy Floyd's closest known associates and also teamed with a number of fellow Oklahoma-based bandits, most notably, William "Billy the Killer" Miller and Aussie Elliott.
Kenneth Leishman, also known as the Flying Bandit or the Gentleman Bandit was a Canadian criminal responsible for multiple robberies between 1957 and 1966. Leishman was the mastermind behind the largest gold theft in Canadian history. This record stood for over 50 years, until it was surpassed by the Toronto Pearson airport heist in 2023. After being caught and arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Leishman managed to escape twice, before being caught and serving the remainder of his various sentences.
Wilbur Underhill Jr., often called "Mad Dog" or the "Tri-State Terror", was an American criminal, burglar, bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. He was one of the most wanted bandits in Oklahoma during the 1920s and 1930s and co-led a gang with Harvey Bailey that included many fellow Cookson Hills outlaws including Jim Clark, Ed Davis and Robert "Big Bob" Brady.
Horst Fantazzini was an Italian-German individualist anarchist who pursued an illegalist lifestyle and practice. He gained media notoriety mainly due to his many bank robberies throughout Italy and other countries. In 1999 the film Ormai è fatta! appeared based on his life
The Union Pacific Big Springs Robbery was a robbery of a Union Pacific train near present-day Big Springs, Nebraska on September 18, 1877. The robbery was perpetrated by a gang of six outlaws led by Sam Bass. Though there were no fatalities, the bandits reportedly stole $60,000 in newly minted $20 gold pieces that was being shipped from the San Francisco Mint to a bank in the eastern United States, among other valuables. Contemporary press coverage of the sensational heist made Bass and his gang of "Black Hills Bandits" instantly famous. It remains the largest single robbery in the history of the Union Pacific Railroad. Several of the gang members were killed in the days following the robbery, but Bass escaped.
George Earl "The Kid" Northern (1903–1936) was a Prohibition-era bank robber and early associate of Harry Pierpont. He was the older brother of Pierpont's girlfriend, Mary Kinder.
Charles Frederick Wilson was an English career criminal. A member of the Great Train Robbery gang, of which he was treasurer, he was shot dead on the doorstep of his Marbella home in 1990.
Violent Panic: The Big Crash, also known as Great Collision, is a 1976 Japanese heist film directed by Kinji Fukasaku.
Gilbert William Galvan Jr. is an American bank robber. Having spent many of his adult years in prison, Galvan fled to Canada where he assumed the name Robert Lee Whiteman and began a three-year spree robbing banks and jewelry stores. The media dubbed him the Flying Bandit and the Phantom Bandit. Galvan's exploits were the subject of a 1996 true crime book, The Flying Bandit, written by Robert Knuckle and Ed Arnold, which was adapted into the 2022 film Bandit.
