Exhibition: The Great Train Robbery: Crime & The Post

On the night of 8 August 1963, a gang of armed criminals boarded a Royal Mail train en route to Euston station in London. Dangerous and organised they escaped with a staggering £2.6 million (£50 million in today’s money).

The Postal Museum’s new temporary exhibition The Great Train Robbery: Crime and The Post, launching in October, will shine a light on the victims of this infamous crime and the involvement of the Post Office Investigation Branch in tracing the perpetrators of the Great Train Robbery and other crimes, from mass murder to forgeries. A largely unknown organisation and one of the oldest units of its kind in the world, its heroic detectives put their lives on the line to solve high profile crimes and bring those responsible to justice.

Visitors to the exhibition will be immersed in the work of the Branch, stepping into an interactive 1960s postal investigation office to piece together crimes and uncover investigation techniques.

This will lead them on to the Great Train Robbery investigation, viewed through never-before-seen objects, artefacts and personal accounts including:

The original high-value packets ripped open by the robbers to get to the cash inside

Never-before-seen files and evidence including observation reports detailing the movements of the criminals, their associates and a suspect list

Recently released first-hand witness accounts from those onboard the train as the robbery took place

Armed with this information the exhibition will ask visitors to reflect on the question - Does the ‘Crime of the Century’ deserve to be celebrated and glamorised?