The Great Train Robbery: How it happened

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23606367

Version 0 of 1.

Just after 3am on 8 August, 1963 the night mail train from Glasgow Central to London Euston was stopped in Buckinghamshire by a gang of thieves. By 3:30am they had escaped with £2.6m in used banknotes - the equivalent of over £40m in today's money.

Fifty years on what quickly became known as The Great Train Robbery still occupies a unique place in the history of British crime. Click on the images to find out how it happened.

The men behind the robbery

Fifteen men were convicted for involvement in the robbery, receiving sentences of up 30 years.

One man was cleared of the charges against him.

Two of the men convicted are now not believed to have been involved in planning the robbery.

Meanwhile, the source of the information about the train that led to the robbery, the mysterious 'Ulsterman', has never been revealed.

Find out more about the Great Train Robbers.

Images: PA Wire/Getty/Thames Valley Police