The Great Train robber that got away: Villain is unmasked 56 years after infamous £2.6m raid as London cabbie who dodged jail to live comfortable life in Kent until his death in 2015

Police take measurements at Cheddington Station, Buckinghamshire on one of the coaches of the train involved in the 2.6 million pound Great mail train robbery.

One of the members of the 1963 Great Train Robbery gang has been unmasked as a south London cab driver.

Danny Pembroke moved to the US in the aftermath of the infamous robbery but had since relocated back to Kent, where he was living in obscurity until his death in 2015.

Danny Pembroke (pictured) moved to the US in the aftermath of the infamous robbery but had since relocated back to Kent, where he was living in obscurity until his death in 2015

The grandfather and former black cab driver was widely suspected to have been the Great Train robber who got away. 

He never confessed to his part in the theft of £2.6million in bank notes – worth £46 million today - but his son has admitted his father's involvement in a new Channel 4 documentary. 

An aerial view of Bridego Bridge in, Ledburn, in Buckinghamshire where the train was robbed in 1963

The documentary, which is set to air on August 12, details how Pembroke was questioned by police at the time but released without charge due to lack of evidence.

He was a former British soldier who fell into crime after completing his national service at age 20. 

The train was driven a mile and a half to the bridge, where the gang unloaded £2,631,684 in used notes

He was suspected of being a member of the South Coast Raiders who helped carry out the left on 8 August 1963 at at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, in Buckinghamshire.  

South Londoner Pembroke moved to the US after the theft, which has been dubbed the 'crime of the century', before returning to Chislehurst in Kent, where he lived a comfortable life thanks partly to his £150,000 share of the haul. 

He worked as a cabbie and raised his five children.

Twelve of the robbers were jailed for a combined total of more than 300 years after they stopped the Glasgow to Euston overnight mail train on August 8 in 1963

He died aged 79 from a heart attack in his sleep at his home and was cremated at Kemnal Park Cemetery.

His son said: 'We had a comfortable life but not over-extravagant. It was nice, it was above mediocrity.' 

A gang masterminded by Bruce Reynolds stopped the Glasgow-Euston overnight mail train as it passed through the Buckinghamshire countryside close to Cheddington in 1963.

The getaway cars are parked under the bridge which were used to take minor roads back to Leatherslade Farm

The train was driven a mile and a half to the bridge, where the gang unloaded £2,631,684 in used notes.

But they were later captured and 12 were jailed for a total of more than 300 years.

More than one broke out of prison, including Biggs, who spent over 30 years on the run before he finally returned to Britain in 2001 to face arrest.

Police prepare to tow away a caravan from a site in Tadworth Surrey which may have been a temporary HQ for the train robers

Reynolds returned in 1968, five years after the crime, and was captured in Torquay and jailed for 25 years.

During the incident driver of the train Jack Mills, was hit over the head with an iron bar suffering serious head injuries.

During the incident driver of the train Jack Mills, was hit over the head with an iron bar suffering serious head injuries

He recovered but still suffered from severe headaches, and although he returned to work, he retired in 1967.

He died in 1970 aged 64 from an illness unrelated to the robbery but his family maintains the trauma never left him.