"fireman" or "second man" on diesel locomotives). At the same time the rest of the gang were moving into position with Roy James, "Bill "Flossy" Jennings", and Jimmy White uncoupling the carriages and the 'heavies' ambushing the cab of the locomotive itself. Bruce Reynolds claims the person responsible was a friend of Jimmy White, who they had recruited for a previous job to be extra muscle. Reynolds himself was not at the train site as he was the spotter at the Ledburn road rail bridge and met the gang at the rendezvous point at Bridego Bridge after Mills was forced by Goody to drive the train. He describes "Alf Thomas" as "a big old boy, very reliable, and would have been useful for the money train" (their practice job) "because he had the muscle to disable the police cars by tipping them over before we sprayed them with fuller's earth and compressed air." (Crossing The Line, 1995, p. 178.) On 12 November 2012, James 'Big Jim' Hussey admitted a few hours before his death to having carried out the attack on Mills. It has been conjectured that the confession was intended to divert suspicion from the surviving train robbers. References Bibliography The Robbers' Tale (1965) by Peta Fordham and first published by Hodder & Stoughton, London (ISBN ). No Fixed Address (1973) by Frank Williams, first published by W.H. Allen & Co Ltd (). Slip Up (1975) by Anthony Delano and first published by Quadrangle / The New York Times Book Co. (). The Train Robbers (1978) by Piers Paul Read and first published by W.H. Allen and Company (). Crossing The Line: Autobiography of a Thief (1995) by Bruce Reynolds, first published by Bantam Press (). Odd Man Out'' (1994) by Ronald Biggs, first published by Bloomsbury Publishing Limited (). 1905 births 1970 deaths Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from leukemia English victims of crime Great Train Robbery (1963) Place of birth missing Deaths from pneumonia in England