August 8, 1929

Educated in the finer points of robbery during lockups for lesser crimes, Ronnie Biggs ended up on the payroll for the Great Train Robbery, the biggest railroad heist of its day.

From London to Cornwall and back again

“I was born on the eighth of August 1929, exactly 34 years to the day before the train robbery,” Biggs told Smithsonian magazine, referring to the event that made him one of the most celebrated bank robbers in history. His father, Henry, a cook who often worked on train dining cars, and mother, Lillian, provided him with a stable home in Brixton, a rough-and-tumble section of London. He was the fourth of five children. “I was superprotected,” he said. “My mother always made sure that my cap was square on my head and my socks were pulled up. It was a loving family...