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HAMPSHIRE & ISLE OF WIGHT CONSTABULARY
13 April 1964
SECRET
Dear Sir
Exercise ‘PRIMROSE’
The question must now arise as to the length of time over which the arrangements for this exercise should be kept in being. I know that all concerned have been prepared to keep the arrangements in hand as long as there seemed to be any likelihood of an attack being made. In the considerable time since the information was first received, however, no intelligence of any significance whatsoever has been collected which would tend to confirm the original information, and it is difficult to believe that if an attack was intended some further indication would not have been forthcoming.
I should like, therefore, for the Working Party which considered these arrangements to meet again at West Hill, Winchester, at 3.00 pm on Wednesday 22 April, 1964, in order that we can make a single decision amongst ourselves as to how long this operation should continue, and, if it is discontinued, what other steps might be desirable. It will, of course, be borne in mind that, having made all these arrangements, it should not be difficult to remote the exercise at short notice if considered advisable.
I should be glad therefore if you would attend this meeting or send a representative who is competent to speak on your behalf, so that early decisions can be made.
Yours faithfully,
Chief Constable
Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 21
The other issue concerning the bottling up of such an explosive story was just how long could it be kept from the media with so many various officials involved in the taskforce. The answer was soon apparent, when ten days after the Scotland Yard conference the story was broken by the crime editor of the Daily Express :
YARD MEN FOIL NEW RAIL RAID PLAN
By Percy Hoskins
Plans of another Great Train Robbery have fallen into the hands of Scotland Yard. The target this time: a West Country express carrying £5 million to £6 million in notes. Again, everything was planned with military precision – for somebody had once more given a gang accurate information about the cargo and the train movements. Now the big question disturbing the authorities is: Who is the tip-off man in the Post Office? The information shows he is not a low-ranking official.
The Yard learned of the new plot from underworld informants three weeks ago and elaborate precautions were taken by Commander George Hatherill. The Chief Constables of every county the train passes through were called to a secret conference at the Yard. A defence scheme involving road blocks and the abandonment of county ‘frontiers’ for pursuit purposes was drawn up. Ever since, on the nights the train has carried valuable loads there has been a general standby at selected ‘danger spots.’ Although no raid has been attempted, Commander Hatherill does not believe the scheme has been abandoned, but that the thieves noting the precautions have changed the target. 22
Hoskins put his finger right away on the issue of inside information. It seems clear, as he concludes, that whoever the mysterious inside man was at the Post Office, he had to be a particularly high-ranking official.
The day after the Daily Express broke the story, post office security officials got together to discuss strategy now that the story was public. From the official account of the ‘Primrose’ meeting they attended on 22 April, it seems clear that they and their colleagues were much more interested in trying to discover who leaked the ‘Primrose’ story to the press than who leaked the inside information about the South West TPO train to a criminal gang bent on robbing it:
1. Messrs McMorran and Link (PSD/PMB/S), Osmond and Edwards (PD/IB) and Shires (LPR) met on the 21 April 1964 to discuss Post Office tactics at the meeting of 22 April in connection with ‘Primrose’.
2. It was agreed that the question of whether the threat to SW TPO was still alive and the extent to
HAMPSHIRE & ISLE OF WIGHT CONSTABULARY
13 April 1964
SECRET
Dear Sir
Exercise ‘PRIMROSE’
The question must now arise as to the length of time over which the arrangements for this exercise should be kept in being. I know that all concerned have been prepared to keep the arrangements in hand as long as there seemed to be any likelihood of an attack being made. In the considerable time since the information was first received, however, no intelligence of any significance whatsoever has been collected which would tend to confirm the original information, and it is difficult to believe that if an attack was intended some further indication would not have been forthcoming.
I should like, therefore, for the Working Party which considered these arrangements to meet again at West Hill, Winchester, at 3.00 pm on Wednesday 22 April, 1964, in order that we can make a single decision amongst ourselves as to how long this operation should continue, and, if it is discontinued, what other steps might be desirable. It will, of course, be borne in mind that, having made all these arrangements, it should not be difficult to remote the exercise at short notice if considered advisable.
I should be glad therefore if you would attend this meeting or send a representative who is competent to speak on your behalf, so that early decisions can be made.
Yours faithfully,
Chief Constable
Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 21
The other issue concerning the bottling up of such an explosive story was just how long could it be kept from the media with so many various officials involved in the taskforce. The answer was soon apparent, when ten days after the Scotland Yard conference the story was broken by the crime editor of the Daily Express :
YARD MEN FOIL NEW RAIL RAID PLAN
By Percy Hoskins
Plans of another Great Train Robbery have fallen into the hands of Scotland Yard. The target this time: a West Country express carrying £5 million to £6 million in notes. Again, everything was planned with military precision – for somebody had once more given a gang accurate information about the cargo and the train movements. Now the big question disturbing the authorities is: Who is the tip-off man in the Post Office? The information shows he is not a low-ranking official.
The Yard learned of the new plot from underworld informants three weeks ago and elaborate precautions were taken by Commander George Hatherill. The Chief Constables of every county the train passes through were called to a secret conference at the Yard. A defence scheme involving road blocks and the abandonment of county ‘frontiers’ for pursuit purposes was drawn up. Ever since, on the nights the train has carried valuable loads there has been a general standby at selected ‘danger spots.’ Although no raid has been attempted, Commander Hatherill does not believe the scheme has been abandoned, but that the thieves noting the precautions have changed the target. 22
Hoskins put his finger right away on the issue of inside information. It seems clear, as he concludes, that whoever the mysterious inside man was at the Post Office, he had to be a particularly high-ranking official.
The day after the Daily Express broke the story, post office security officials got together to discuss strategy now that the story was public. From the official account of the ‘Primrose’ meeting they attended on 22 April, it seems clear that they and their colleagues were much more interested in trying to discover who leaked the ‘Primrose’ story to the press than who leaked the inside information about the South West TPO train to a criminal gang bent on robbing it:
1. Messrs McMorran and Link (PSD/PMB/S), Osmond and Edwards (PD/IB) and Shires (LPR) met on the 21 April 1964 to discuss Post Office tactics at the meeting of 22 April in connection with ‘Primrose’.
2. It was agreed that the question of whether the threat to SW TPO was still alive and the extent to
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