Bruce Reynolds, mastermind behind the 1963 Great Train Robbery, dies aged 81 Bruce Reynolds, who organised the Great Train Robbery of 1963, has died at the age of 81. After masterminding the £2.6million heist, which was then the largest robbery in British history, Reynolds spent five years on the run before being imprisoned for nine years. A policeman who investigated the crime said that Reynolds' death months ahead of its 50th anniversary marked 'the end of an era'. Mastermind: Bruce Reynolds, who organised the Great Train Robbery, has died aged 81 Arrest: Reynolds being taken away by police in November 1968 after spending five years on the run Gang: Reynolds, centre, with his accomplices Buster Edwards, Tom Wisbey, Jim White, Roger Cordrey, Charles Wilson and Jim Hussey in 1979 The death was announced by Reynolds' son Nick, who is a member of the band Alabama Three. The legendary criminal wrote a memoir, The Autobiography of a Thief, which has been described as one of the most enlightening true-crime books ever published. The Great Train Robbery took place in the early hours of August 8, 1963 at a railway bridge in Buckinghamshire. Reynolds and 16 associates had planned the operation in which they ambushed a Royal Mail train transporting £2.6million - the equivalent of more than £40million today. Heist: The train which was targeted by the robbers pictured soon after the crime Record: The haul, worth over £40million in today's money, was the biggest robbery in British history They attacked the workers on board and made off with the money, having cut nearby telephone lines so the victims could not call for help. Jack Mills, the train driver, was knocked out with a vicious blow to the head and suffered persistent headaches for the rest of life. The famous crime inspired multiple cinematic treatments, including 1967's Robbery, the Phil Collins comedy Buster from 1988, and an ITV drama entitled Mrs Biggs which was screened last year. Reynolds - who once worked in the accounts department of the Daily Mail - left the country in an attempt to flee justice, settling in Mexico and then Canada under a false name with his family. But when he returned to Britain he was caught and put on trial, then sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the robbery. Scene: The bridge where the bandits held up the train and attacked its workers Carnage: Inside a carriage of the mail train in the aftermath of the robbery in 1963 The criminal mastermind was released in 1978 and largely faded from the public spotlight - unlike his fellow robber Ronnie Biggs, who stayed in the headlines thanks to show-off antics as a fugitive abroad. Mr Biggs's son Michael paid tribute to the 'larger than life' Reynolds, saying that he could have been a successful businessman if he had not turned to crime. 'Bruce was my father's closest friend - they met in Borstal when they were 13, and like myself and my father Bruce and his family had a very tight relationship,' he said. 'What made my father and Bruce such good friends, and what made them both so respected by so many people, was that Bruce and my father weren't just lifting weights and wasting time in prison, they would devour libraries both in Borstal and when they met up again in prison. They were very clever men who could hold conversations in hundreds of different subjects. They both educated themselves in prison. He was the type of bloke who, if he had started his business rather than going into crime, he would probably have been a multi-millionaire. Cash: Detectives search through sacks of banknotes which were stolen in what was then a record robbery Investigation: A policeman picks up the train driver's hat from the railway tracks near the ambush site Reynolds lived, alone and penniless, in a tiny flat off London's Edgware Road. In the 1980s he was jailed for three years for dealing amphetamines. He said he wanted to get rich but also to 'make his mark' with a crime to go down in the history books. His memoir, released in 1995, said the Great Train Robbery proved a curse which followed him around and no-one wanted to employ him, legally or illegally. 'I became an old crook living on handouts from other old crooks,' he said. Reynolds marked the 40th anniversary of the heist, in 2003, as guest of honour at a village fete in Oakley, Buckinghamshire, close to the farm where the gang hid after the crime. Family: Reynolds, left, with his wife Frances as well as fellow robber John Daly and his wife Barbara Father and son: Reynolds with his son Nick, an artist who is a member of the band Alabama Three In his later years he lived in Croydon, Surrey, and suffered from increasingly poor health before his death. Nick Reynolds said: 'I can confirm that he has passed away and he died in his sleep. He hadn't been well for a few days and I was looking after him.' Leonard 'Nipper' Read, the policeman who pursued the robbers in the aftermath of the crime, told the Guardian: 'It really is the end of an era. It was certainly a well-organised operation and Reynolds was the pioneer. It is a little piece of history. Notorious: Ronnie Biggs, pictured left at the time of the robbery and right in 2011, is the best-known of the gang after escaping from prison and spending decades on the run Injuries: Jack Mills, driver of the train which the gang targeted, after being beaten by the robbers Police: Jack Slipper, left, and Gerald McArthur, right, were two officers intimately involved with the investigation Eddie Richardson, an old friend of Reynolds who spent time with him in prison, said he was sad to hear about his death and described him as 'good company'. Richardson, who describes himself as a 1960s 'south London gangland boss', said: 'He was all right. He was his own man. He done his own thing. There's only a couple left now. Having spent 25 years in jail himself, Richardson recalled Reynolds being a good friend to him on occasion behind bars. 'He was quite good,' he said. He was good company, an experienced person, had a few stories to tell. I'm sad to hear the news, and it's a shame really.' Family friend John Schoonraad said he always found Reynolds to be the 'perfect gentleman' and a 'philosophical, gentle person'. 'He was a very nice man,' he said. I know in the past he was a bit notorious - well, really notorious - for the Great Train Robbery. Despite Reynolds' criminal past, Mr Schoonraad said he was a changed man and no longer believed in crime. 'He said to me, "Crime doesn't pay." He's done his time, and he turned into a very nice man. I've always known him to be a real gentleman.' Ronnie Biggs (left): The most famous of the train robbers, even though he played a minor role as a contact for the replacement train driver. He is best known for his escape from prison in 1965 and living as a fugitive for 36 years. He voluntarily returned to the UK in 2011 and spent several years in prison. During this time his health rapidly declined and on August 6, 2009, he was released from prison on compassionate grounds. Charles Frederick (Charlie) Wilson (right): The treasurer whose role was to give the robbers their cut of the haul. He earned the nickname 'the silent man' after he was captured because he refused to say anything during his trial. Jailed for 30 years but escaped after four months. Was captured in Canada four years later and severed another ten years in jail. Moved to Spain in 1978 where he was shot and killed in 1990. Ronald 'Buster' Edwards (left): Fled to Mexico after the robbery but gave himself up in 1966. After nine years in jail he became a familiar figure selling flowers outside London Waterloo. Killed himself in 1994 at the age of 62. Roy James (right): The chief getaway driver left a fingerprint at the gang's farm hideout and was caught following a rooftop chase. He moved to Spain after serving 12 years of a 30 year sentence. He was jailed again for six years in 1993 for shooting his wife's father and hitting her with a pistol, and died soon after being released, at the age of 62. Tommy Wisbey (left): One of the 'heavies' of the gang, Wisbey was there to frighten the train staff. Was jailed for 30 years and released in 1976 before being jailed for another ten years in 1989 for dealing cocaine. After being released he lived in north London, where he suffered a number of strokes. Jimmy Hussey (right): 'Big Jim' died last year after apparently making a deathbed confession claiming he was the gang member who coshed the train driver. He was sentenced to 30 years for the robbery. After he was released in 1975 he eventually opened a restaurant in Soho after working on a market stall. He was convicted for assault in 1981. He was then jailed for seven years, eight years later, for a drug smuggling conspiracy, along with Wisbey. Roger Cordrey (left): Was jailed for 20 years after being arrested in Bournemouth. He was caught after renting a lock-up from a policeman's widow. His sentence was reduced to 14 years on appeal. The florist returned to the flower business after he was released in 1971 and moved to the West Country. Jimmy White (right): The 'quartermaster' for the robbery. The former Paratrooper was caught in Kent after being on the run for three years and was sentenced to 18 years, He moved to Sussex after being released in 1975. Douglas Gordon Goody (left): Was released in 1975 after being sentenced to 30 years in jail. After being released the hairdresser moved to Spain to run a bar. John Daly (right): Reynold's brother-in-law was arrested after his fingerprints were discovered on a Monopoly set linked to the case, but was acquitted when he successfully argued this did not prove he was involved. Bobby Welch: Was also jailed for 30 years and released in 1976. The nightclub boss was left crippled after an operation on his leg went wrong. After being released from jail he became a gambler and a car dealer in London. Brian Field: The solicitor was used to make the arrangement to buy the farm hideout used after the robbery. Jailed for 25 years, which was later reduced to five. He later died in a motorway crash in 1979. Bill Jennings: The criminal who was hired to decouple the carriage with the cash in it was never caught and brought to justice. Four other people were believed to be involved in the heist, but have never been identified. They include 'The Ulsterman', a key figure whose real name is a complete mystery.