Buster Edwards

**Buster Edwards** is a petty criminal from the East End of 1963 London. His long-suffering wife June (Julie Walters) thinks of him as a lovable rogue.

Buster walking along his local high street breaks into a shop to steal a suit, into which he then changes to attend a funeral. Buster brings Harry, who has been used on other 'jobs' and has recently served 18 months in prison for his part in previous robberies, to discuss the next 'job' with the ring-leader Bruce Reynolds. Harry wants 'in' and becomes part of the firm who are planning to rob a Royal Mail train allegedly carrying up to £1 million in cash.

After a complex and successful heist, the gang return to their farmhouse hideout to stay out of sight and split the spoils. They find they have stolen over £3 million − much more than they have anticipated or reported by the media. Members of the gang are drink from beer bottles and glasses without wearing gloves, thereby leaving fingerprints which would be evidence of their involvement in the robbery. While lying low at the farmhouse, they hear on the radio that the police are searching farmhouses and outhouses within a 30-mile radius of the robbery site. The gang become nervous and some members want to immediately return to London for fear of discovery; others think they should keep to the original plan and stay put.

The gang decide to return to London, where they meet their 'contact', a solicitor's clerk who, as in the original plan, arranges for the farmhouse to be 'cleared and cleaned', thereby destroying any physical evidence linking the gang to the robbery. The contact states he will bring the plans forward from a few weeks to the next two to three days. Bruce, Buster and Harry are not happy with any delay at all because they fear imminent discovery, so they set off back to the farmhouse in their own car, to do the job themselves. During the journey, they hear on the car radio that the farmhouse hideout has been discovered, so they abandon their plans and return to London, hoping they will have time to escape with their families. Buster returns home, and is devastated to find that June has had a miscarriage while he was committing the robbery. She cannot believe it when she learns of his involvement in what has been quickly dubbed "The Great Train Robbery".

For several months after the robbery, Buster and June remain in hiding with their young daughter Nicky until they are turned in to the police by a suspicious neighbor. Buster flees to Acapulco, where he is met by fellow Great Train Robber, Bruce Reynolds, and his girlfriend Franny, who are also on the run and living it up in the sun on the profits of the crime. June and Nicky arrive, despite the disapproval of her mother, and although Nicky seems to love her new life in the sun, June is immediately unimpressed with their new way of life and resolves to return to England, despite knowing that if Buster is to return with them he will be imprisoned. Buster remains in Acapulco for some time after June leaves, until realizing (while celebrating England's 1966 World Cup triumph) that having money and the sun means nothing if he doesn't have his family, so he returns to England to accept his punishment.

Twelve years later in 1975, after his release from jail, Buster is seemingly content and running a flower stall near London's Waterloo Bridge.

## Notes

* He is a fictional portrayal of the real Buster Edwards. [1]