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Eastcastle Street robbery

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288: 294: 53:, central London, when seven masked men held up a post office van. The robbers used two cars to sandwich the van. The first car emerged slowly from a side street causing the van to slow down, the second car then pulled up alongside. The driver and two attendants were dragged out and coshed and the van was stolen. It was later found abandoned near 109:
references the robbery, which was still unsolved at the time, and implies that the characters had a hand in it. Coincidentally, a film made the year prior to the incident,
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The robbery heralded the start of the 'project' (i.e. a carefully planned and executed) crime. The mastermind behind the raid was London gangster
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Richard Hobbs, 'Chatham, George Henry (1912–1997)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
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on what had gone wrong. Yet, despite the involvement of over 1,000 police officers, no one was ever caught.
105: 353: 327: 57:; 18 of the 31 mailbags were missing. It was found that the van's alarm bell had been tampered with. 308: 383: 42:. The robbers escaped with £287,000 (estimated to be worth, in 2019, approximately £8,320,000). 320: 111: 100: 61: 8: 303:
This article related to the history of the United Kingdom or its predecessor states is a
76: 46: 54: 116: 304: 65: 347: 287: 266: 253: 242:; "Obituary: George 'Taters' Chatham: A burglar's rich pickings"; 7 June 1997 50: 38:
van in London in May 1952 which, at the time, was Britain's largest postwar
153: 35: 196: 293: 200:; 22 May 1952; "London Mail Robbery Security Measures Tightened" 221:
The Guardian "The Twentieth Century: 10 Crime" 6 March 1999
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demanded daily updates on the police investigation and the
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bullion van being waylaid in a very similar manner.
212:The Times, 23 May 1952; "£200,000 Stolen From Van" 45:It occurred around 4:20am on Wednesday 21 May in 345: 328: 359:Organised crime events in the United Kingdom 335: 321: 208: 206: 191: 189: 148: 146: 144: 14: 346: 399:Unsolved crimes in the United Kingdom 394:May 1952 events in the United Kingdom 203: 186: 141: 94: 281: 129:List of heists in the United Kingdom 24: 25: 415: 364:1952 crimes in the United Kingdom 18:Eastcastle St. postal van robbery 379:1950s in the City of Westminster 374:Crime in the City of Westminster 292: 286: 89:Parliament of the United Kingdom 87:, was required to report to the 27:1952 robbery in London, England 233: 224: 215: 160: 13: 1: 134: 404:United Kingdom history stubs 307:. You can help Knowledge by 7: 122: 10: 420: 280: 64:and the robbers included 32:Eastcastle Street robbery 70:Terry "Lucky Tel" Hogan 66:George "Taters" Chatham 389:1950s crimes in London 112:The Lavender Hill Mob 101:Alexander Mackendrick 369:Robberies in England 103:'s 1955 comedy film 34:was the holdup of a 263: /  267:51.5165°N 0.1383°W 168:"Mail Van Robbery" 95:In popular culture 81:Postmaster General 354:Individual thefts 316: 315: 172:api.parliament.uk 77:Winston Churchill 47:Eastcastle Street 16:(Redirected from 411: 337: 330: 323: 298: 297: 296: 290: 282: 278: 277: 275: 274: 273: 272:51.5165; -0.1383 268: 264: 261: 260: 259: 256: 243: 237: 231: 228: 222: 219: 213: 210: 201: 193: 184: 183: 181: 179: 164: 158: 150: 21: 419: 418: 414: 413: 412: 410: 409: 408: 344: 343: 342: 341: 291: 285: 271: 269: 265: 262: 257: 254: 252: 250: 249: 247: 246: 238: 234: 229: 225: 220: 216: 211: 204: 194: 187: 177: 175: 166: 165: 161: 151: 142: 137: 125: 117:Bank of England 106:The Ladykillers 97: 85:Earl de la Warr 75:Prime Minister 28: 23: 22: 15: 12: 11: 5: 417: 407: 406: 401: 396: 391: 386: 384:1952 in London 381: 376: 371: 366: 361: 356: 340: 339: 332: 325: 317: 314: 313: 300: 245: 244: 232: 223: 214: 202: 185: 159: 139: 138: 136: 133: 132: 131: 124: 121: 96: 93: 26: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 416: 405: 402: 400: 397: 395: 392: 390: 387: 385: 382: 380: 377: 375: 372: 370: 367: 365: 362: 360: 357: 355: 352: 351: 349: 338: 333: 331: 326: 324: 319: 318: 312: 310: 306: 301: 295: 289: 284: 283: 279: 276: 241: 236: 227: 218: 209: 207: 199: 198: 192: 190: 173: 169: 163: 156: 155: 149: 147: 145: 140: 130: 127: 126: 120: 118: 114: 113: 108: 107: 102: 92: 90: 86: 82: 78: 73: 71: 67: 63: 58: 56: 55:Regent's Park 52: 51:Oxford Street 48: 43: 41: 37: 33: 19: 309:expanding it 302: 299:   248: 240:The Guardian 239: 235: 226: 217: 195: 176:. Retrieved 171: 162: 154:The Guardian 152: 110: 104: 99:The plot of 98: 74: 59: 44: 31: 29: 270: / 36:Post Office 348:Categories 255:51°30′59″N 135:References 62:Billy Hill 258:0°08′18″W 197:The Times 174:. Hansard 115:showed a 49:just off 123:See also 40:robbery 178:9 May 305:stub 180:2022 68:and 30:The 350:: 205:^ 188:^ 170:. 143:^ 83:, 72:. 336:e 329:t 322:v 311:. 182:. 20:)

Index

Eastcastle St. postal van robbery
Post Office
robbery
Eastcastle Street
Oxford Street
Regent's Park
Billy Hill
George "Taters" Chatham
Terry "Lucky Tel" Hogan
Winston Churchill
Postmaster General
Earl de la Warr
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Alexander Mackendrick
The Ladykillers
The Lavender Hill Mob
Bank of England
List of heists in the United Kingdom



The Guardian
"Mail Van Robbery"


The Times


51°30′59″N 0°08′18″W / 51.5165°N 0.1383°W / 51.5165; -0.1383
Flag of United Kingdom

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