Brian Field — solicitor's clerk involved in the 1963 Great Train Robbery

Role and activities

Field is best known for acting as an intermediary between the criminal gang and people who could supply practical assistance. His position in a law office gave him access to certain networks and the appearance of legitimacy, which the organisers exploited during the plot to stop and rob a Royal Mail train. The robbery itself removed a large sum of cash from a southbound mail train and triggered a major police investigation.

Arrest and conviction

After the raid met with wide publicity and intensive police work, Field was arrested along with other participants. He faced trial and was convicted for his part in organising the crime. Like several other conspirators, he served a custodial sentence; the case attracted long-lasting media interest because of the scale of the theft and the colourful personalities involved.

Death and legacy

On 27 April 1979 Brian Field died in a car crash in London. His wife was also killed in the same collision. The Great Train Robbery remains a frequent subject for books, documentaries and dramatizations, and Field is often mentioned in accounts that examine how professional skill and inside knowledge were used to assist the gang.

Notable points

• Field worked in a solicitor's office and used that role to connect the gang with resources.
• The Great Train Robbery of 1963 is widely studied as an example of a large-scale organised theft in postwar Britain.
• Several books and films have explored the robbery and its participants; Field appears in many retrospective accounts.

For more background on Field's life and the wider case see contemporary reports and retrospective analyses: biographical sources, detailed accounts of the Great Train Robbery, and archival coverage of his death and related records.