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N0KFQ > TODAY 08.08.14 16:01l 58 Lines 2783 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Aug 8
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IR1UAW<IQ5KG<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 140808/1400Z 32992@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
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.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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