Jack Mills
| Jack Mills | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
1 September 1905 Lambeth, London, England |
| Died | 28 February 1970 (aged 64) Lambeth, London, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Train driver |
Jack Mills (1 September 1905 – 28 February 1970) was the driver of the train that was robbed in the Great Train Robbery in 1963.
He boarded the train at the driver change-over at Crewe station, his home town, in Cheshire, on the train's journey to London Euston station, a journey that would take the train through Buckinghamshire, where the gang of robbers were waiting for it. There, Mills approached the set of two signals that were normally both green. The robbers had, however, changed the first set of signals to yellow, warning the driver to slow down, and the second set to red, telling the driver to stop the train. He stopped, and soon after the robbers launched their robbery. When they got into the cab of the locomotive, they attacked Mills with an iron bar, and he suffered a black eye and facial bruising. He was handcuffed to the train's second man, David Whitby, in the locomotive's engine compartment. After the robbery, Mills was taken to the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital in Aylesbury, where he and his second man had to wait for a free police officer to remove the handcuffs.
Mills, who was 57 at the time of the robbery, never fully recovered from his injuries. He returned to work in May 1964, and worked for 18 months on light duties. He was then on sick leave from November 1965 until December 1966 with shingles. He returned for one last year in work for 1967, retiring at Christmas, with two and a half months off sick that year. Jack Mills had severe brain damage and blows to the head. He never recovered and suffered until his death.
When Ronnie Biggs' wife Charmian Biggs' story was told in the Sunday Mirror, it was revealed by rival papers that she had been paid £65,000, dwarfing the £250 compensation that Mills had received. The Daily Mail then launched an appeal on his behalf that raised £34,000, which enabled Mills to move into a more comfortable house in Crewe. Mills died in February 1970 shortly after moving. He died of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, with a further complication of bronchial pneumonia.
The West Cheshire Coroner concluded that there was no reason to hold an inquest and that while he was aware that Mills had been injured in the incident, there was no connection as far as he was concerned.
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Wikipedia