| |
N0KFQ > TODAY 08.08.10 20:34l 58 Lines 2835 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 13930_N0KFQ
Read: VE7HFY GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Aug 8
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0MRW<DB0ERF<OK0NHD<DB0LHR<DB0ZDF<DB0SEL<DB0RBS<DB0GOS<
ON0AR<ON4HU<ON0BEL<CX2SA<N0KFQ
Sent: 100808/1812Z @:N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA #:13930 [Branson] FBB7.00i $:13930_N
From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@WW
Aug 8, 1963:
Land Rovers used in famous Great Train Robbery
On this day in 1963, the 15 thieves involved in the Great Train
Robbery, one of the most famous heists of all time, escape in an
ex-British Army truck and two stolen Land Rover four-wheel drive
all-terrain vehicles, making off with some $7 million in stolen
loot.
The mastermind of the Great Train Robbery was Bruce Reynolds, a
known burglar and armed robber. Inspired by the railroad heists
of the Wild West in America, Reynolds and 14 other men wearing
ski masks and helmets held up the Royal Mail train heading
between Glasgow, Scotland, and London, England. They used a
false red signal to get the train to stop, then hit the driver
with an iron bar, seriously injuring him, in order to gain
control of the train. The thieves loaded 120 mailbags filled
with the equivalent of $7 million in used bank notes into their
Land Rovers and sped off. The vehicles had been stolen in
central London and marked with identical license plates in order
to confuse the police.
In their hideout at Leatherslade Farm in Buckinghamshire,
England, the robbers divided their loot. Viewed as folk heroes
by the public for the audacious scale of their crime and their
flight from justice, 12 of the 15 robbers nevertheless were
eventually captured. In all, the gang of thieves received a
total sentence of some 300 years. One of them, a small-time hood
named Ronnie Biggs, escaped from prison after just 15 months and
underwent plastic surgery to change his appearance. He fled the
country and eluded capture for years, finally giving himself up
in 2001 when he returned from Brazil voluntarily to serve the 28
years remaining in his sentence.
The two Land Rovers used in the robbery were discovered at the
thieves' hideout; a car enthusiast still owns one of them today.
Produced by the British-based Rover Company, the Land Rover made
its debut at the Amsterdam Motor Show in 1948. It was modeled
after the four-wheel drive American-made Jeeps used by the
British War Department during World War II and was made of
cheaper, readily available aluminum alloy due to the postwar
shortage of steel. By 1960, Land Rover production had reached
500,000 vehicles per year, and the all-terrain vehicle had
become popular in all types of climates--desert, jungle and
city--around the world. Rover later introduced an upscale
version called the Range Rover, which become another bestseller
for the company. The German automaker BMW purchased Rover in
1994, but split the brand six years later, selling the Land
Rover name to Ford Motor Company. In 2008, Ford sold Land Rover,
along with Jaguar, to Tata Motors Ltd., India's top automaker.
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
Using "Outpost Lite" Ver 2.2.1 c85
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
