The personal archive of one of the detectives who headed up the Great Train Robbery investigation has emerged for sale more than 60 years on.
Detective Chief Superintendent Ernest Millen was head of Scotland Yard’s ‘Flying Squad’ when the notorious multi-million-pound heist was committed on August 8, 1963.
The extensive archive of files and evidence photos provide a fascinating insight into one of Britain’s most infamous crimes, with some pictures of heist vehicles and bags of money believed to have never been seen.
Britain’s biggest and boldest train robbery was orchestrated by London gang members, executed in 15 minutes and prompted an international manhunt that spanned several decades.
The case clearly had a big impact on Millen, who kept boxes of paperwork at his home long after all the criminals had been caught.
Booklets of photographs show suitcases and holdalls with bundles of money piled in front of them, believed to have been seized after arrests had been made.
There are also evidence photos showing close-ups of the tampered signal, the inside of the train’s high value package carriage, a view of the bridge where they offloaded the money and the hideout at Leatherslade Farm in Buckinghamshire.
The personal archive of one of the detectives who headed up the Great Train Robbery investigation has emerged for sale more than 60 years on
The extensive archive of files and evidence photos provide a fascinating insight into one of Britain’s most infamous crimes, with some pictures of heist vehicles and bags of money believed to be previously unseen
Some show getaway vehicles left in rundown barns at the farm, camping equipment and food left at the hideout and the Royal Mail bags the money had been in.
There is also a photo showing a pile of burning rubbish after the gang set fire to their hideout in a bid to get rid of all the evidence.
The 16 criminals led by Bruce Reynolds targeted a Royal Mail train that was carrying bags of cash from Glasgow to London at 3.03am with a fake stop signal near Ledburn, Bucks.
They absconded with 120 sacks of money totalling £2.6m – equivalent to £48m oday – the bulk of which has never been recovered.
They made their way to Leatherslade Farm, where the plan was to lay low until the furore died down.
But after getting spooked by reports of police searching in the area, they decided to go on the run.
Two of the gang had been tasked with burning down the farm but did not do this.
When police arrived, the gang was gone but they left behind plenty of evidence, including a Monopoly game that had been played with the stolen money, and fingerprints lifted from the scene gradually led to the identification of everyone involved.
Some photos show getaway vehicles left in rundown barns at the farm, camping equipment and food left at the hideout and the Royal Mail bags the money had been in
Mugshots of some of those who were involved in the Great Train Robbery
Photographs from the case, including an image of bundles of money. They were kept by Detective Chief Superintendent Ernest Millen
Papers that Detective Chief Superintendent Millen kept for decades after the case
More of the photos that were taken by police at Leatherslade Farm
Ernest Millen’s personal items including his Metropolitan Police warrant card and passport
Millen was promoted to deputy commander and assumed responsibility for the entire CID department two months after the heist and was at the very epicentre of the investigation.
It was Millen who made the decision to publish the names and photographs of the suspects, a move which others strongly disagreed with.
Even after they were identified, many of the criminals managed to avoid justice for years.
The last of the suspects, Ronnie Biggs, was jailed in 2001 – 38 years after the heist. In total, the syndicate received a cumulative 307 years imprisonment.
This archive includes a Met Police file type-written by Millen and signed by him just four days after the heist to the assistant chief constable to co-ordinate the enquiries and make sure ‘all police forces concerned were aware of the facts’.
There is a framed newspaper from the day of the robbery and a poster and newspaper for a feature on Millen from 1970.
Although the archive is focused on the Great Train Robbery, it does cover Millen’s entire police career.
He started as a beat cop before the war and the archive includes mugshots from his early career, as well as warrant cards, a passport and other personal effects, including a published book script he wrote.
Vince Scopes, a specialist at C&T Auctioneers, who are selling the archive, said: ‘This has all come directly from Ernest Millen’s house and have come to light after he passed away and the property was cleared out.
‘But before that was done, Scotland Yard had already been into his property and removed other items deemed sensitive, this is what was left behind.
Press cuttings kept by Ernest Millen after his leading role in snaring the Great Train Robbery gang
Photos of Detective Chief Superintendent Millen, along with membership cards and papers
Detective Chief Superintendent Ernest Millen was head of Scotland Yard’s ‘Flying Squad’ when the notorious multi-million-pound heist was committed on August 8, 1963
‘It just goes to show how important it still was for Scotland Yard to come down and go through his belongings. And the archive shows how much that investigation meant to Millen – the majority of the stuff is related to the Great Train Robbery.
‘We believe the evidence photographs are unpublished. The ones of the vans, the Austin lorry they used in the raid, I haven’t seen those anywhere else before.
‘This is the first time to the market, the only other people that have handled it are the house clearance people.
‘Thankfully someone recognised the importance and these bits of history got saved from the bin.
‘It is a really difficult thing to try and put an estimate on – it’s a complete one off so it’s hard to gauge.’The archive, estimated at £800, will be sold at Kenardington, Kent, on November 30.
