The Colonel

Power wasn’t given — it was taken.

In Episode 4 of The Krays Web, Ronnie and Reggie Kray return from National Service and begin building the foundations of their criminal empire in London’s East End.

From a struggling billiard hall to a growing underworld network, this is where reputation, violence, and identity begin to define the Krays — and where Ronnie starts becoming something far more dangerous.

In this episode:
• Life after the army and the pursuit of a “better” life
• The takeover of the Regal billiard hall in Mile End
• How the twins turned chaos into control — and profit
• The rise of “The Firm” and early organised crime operations
• Ronnie’s growing persona as “The Colonel”
• Violence, weapons, and the creation of “Fort Valance”
• The events leading to Ronnie’s 1956 prison sentence

Why it matters:
This is the birth of the Kray empire — where business, brutality, and reputation merge, and where the balance between the twins begins to shift.

Follow the show for more deep-dive episodes into the truth behind the Kray twins.

Next episode: The downward spiral of Ronnie Kray - Krazy

Links to Resources

Check out my website for resources used and social media links : thekraysweb.com

Contact me : wendyceepods@gmail.com

Music by Captain Fat Hands captainfathands.com

Transcript

Wendy Cee 0:23

Welcome to the Krays Web, a podcast about the infamous Kray twins and those associated with them. I'm your host, Wendy Cee , and this is season one, The Krays. This is episode four, The Colonel. Please note that there is some swearing in this podcast and descriptions of violence. I'll be adding specific trigger warnings where needed. The voices that you hear throughout the podcast are all my family and friends who have rallied round to help me to make this podcast more enjoyable for you to listen to. I've used lots of sources when writing these episodes, far too many to list here, but details of which you will be able to find on my website, thecrazeweb.com. Whilst in the army, Ronnie and Reggie made some decisions. They wanted a quote, good life. And working with someone else was not for them. So after talking with friends who advised them that the West End was where the money was, that was where they were headed when they escaped from the army. According to John Pearson's The Profession of Violence. They have been told that in the West, anyone prepared to fight could make himself an easy living. There were monks to be conned, ponters to be preyed on, gambling clubs waiting to be tapped, and armed robberies to be executed. Provided you weren't too fussy, there were no limits in this villain's Eldorado. And the twins were not feeling particularly fussy now. There was just one problem. That area of London was wrapped up with two very well known gangsters of the time. A pair of self-styled kings of the underworld, Billy Hill and Jack Spot Corner. But the twins were young and arrogant, they could wait. In the meantime, they would find somewhere that would accept them, and that place was in a large, unassuming looking hotel just off Piccadilly Circus. A hotel that welcomed ladies for afternoon tea and held children's tea parties. But when the clock struck twelve midnight, just like Cinderella, everything changed. The Lloyd Loom chairs that earlier had seated groups of ladies sipping on cups of tea from Bone China cups while eating plates of small cakes and sandwiches, were now occupied by half of the petty thieves and criminals in London. The tea room stayed open all night and was a literal den of thieves. And it was here, away from the big time villains that the twins would come. And it was here that the twins started to make a name for themselves. Ronnie and Reggie were smart, they stayed in the shadows, and they watched. Whatever the reason, other villains were wary of the twins, and that allowed them to be accepted as true villains from the very beginning. They didn't need to prove themselves to anybody. And those that did challenge them were dealt with swiftly, a broken jaw here, a black eye there. People learnt fast. The twins might not have been big, heavy set men, but they were fast, and they were strong. They quickly gained acquaintances as people wanted them on side rather than falling foul of them. One of the first to realise the power of the crays and to get them on side was Tommy Smithson. He was a small time villain who would fight to the death if he had to to prove a point. He was running a snooker hall and illicit gambling club in Soho, and while the twins were on the run from the army, he would let them sleep on the snooker tables once the club was closed. But Tommy was a rogue who covered in scars was always getting into fights, but he was tough and determined. Just a few months after he met Ronnie and Reggie, he was jumped in Regents Park, slashed and left for dead. He miraculously survived and ended up with hundreds of stitches and a paralyzed arm, but that didn't deter him, and he was back at the snooker hall within a week. But it wasn't long before his luck ran out and he was shot by a Maltese man in the stomach and died. Due to the nature of the world that the twins were in and the people they found themselves surrounded by, this was par for the course, and over the years they would lose many friends in similar circumstances. Ronnie and Reggie had finally served their time in the army and were released. It was time to start the career they had dreamed about. Firstly they needed somewhere to base themselves, and that place was the Regal. A run down, unloved, fourteen table billiard hall in Mile End that attracted small gangs, and with the manager constantly being threatened for money, it was perfect. So Ronnie and Reggie started to spend time there. Reggie would play Snooker, while Ronnie, who hated games of any sort, would just sit and while away the days. The violence in the Regal was increasing, tablecloths were being ripped, the manager was being threatened more than usual, and there were threats made to burn the club down. It was too much for the manager, and he quit. And the twins, who allegedly had nothing to do with the increased violence, stepped in and made an offer to the owners that they would run it for five pounds a week, which is about £150 or two hundred US dollars today. The owner accepted. The deal was that they would pay five pounds a week rent to the owners, and in return they could keep the takings from the tables. Reggie repainted the bar, they would brush the tables every morning, and the increased violence? Well that stopped as soon as the twins took over. And the club started to make a profit for the first time in years. Ronnie and Reggie were good businessmen. They started to get a reputation, and people visited from all over to see them. People they knew and people they didn't know who were told they might be able to help them with work. There was always something going on, and people didn't want to miss out, so they would come just to be part of the inn crowd. If anyone tried to challenge Ronnie and Reggie, they would be dealt with swiftly, and they wouldn't do it again. Sometimes it was a simple punch. Other times, like when a Maltese gang tried to get protection money from them, the twins went after them with cutlasses. They would do whatever it took to protect their club and themselves. This would be accompanied with diamond encrusted cufflinks, a gold watch and a large gold ring. Ronnie had expensive taste, and he was enjoying showing off, but it was also becoming more and more unpredictable. The twins had created their own den of thieves, and they were loving it. And then there were the nights away from the Regal, nights when the twins would cause trouble just for trouble's sake, and of course, they wanted everyone to know who they were and what they were capable of. Apparently Ronnie would stand up in the Regal and say, Well, we've decided on a little row with so and so tonight, and they would ask who would join in. Everyone would grab weapons and follow the twins in a convoy of old battered cars through the streets to an unknown location where they would cause mayhem. Many of their fights were with much larger men, yet in the several hundred barbells, woundings, shootings, and punch ups they were involved in, they never once appeared to have come off second best. Both were abnormally tough. If it was necessary to hit someone, they hit first and hardest and put the boot in afterwards. If they were cutting someone's face or backside, they used a knife or sharpened cutlass. Razors, Ronnie used to say, are old fashioned and strike us as babyish. You can't put any real power behind a razor. While the fights looked like spur of the moment decisions, in the background, Ronnie had planned them with military precision in many cases. He enlisted a group of young lads to spy on neighbouring gangs and feed intelligence to him. And Ronnie and Reggie made sure they controlled the crowd. They made sure everyone knew who was in charge and what the remit was. And anyone that stepped out of line? Well, they would be invited to a craze style court martial in the Regal after hours, where Ronnie and Reggie would dish out punishment fitting the crime, from a simple beating to being permanently excluded from the group. The billiard hall wars got more and more intense, and Ronnie's planning of the attacks got more sophisticated. And then one day, one of the gang allegedly said, Christ Ron, you're just like a bloody colonel. And from that day on, Ronnie took on that moniker. Flan has a different take on how Ronnie became the colonel. They loved publicity. Yeah, at home they still lived with their mum in a tiny little house.

Flan 10:28

Yeah. Because they felt safe there. And then someone, I don't know who it was, I think it was Curly King, said one night, where are we gonna meet? Oh, let's meet down Fort Valence. Ronnie Kray, what do you say? Fort Valence. I'm gonna call it Fort Valence. Well, he could have said, No, you're not. But he liked it because it was important. It made his home stand out. It got nicknamed that and he liked that. And that's from then on, especially the way he walked, he was nicknamed the colonel. And he liked that. See, because had he not liked it, no one would have dared said it after. You know, but they were I will say, they were chalk and cheese to meat.

Wendy Cee 11:12

Ronnie became more and more power obsessed. He had a huge army of people that would do anything he asked them to. He had a huge Alsatian dog that he had trained to be fierce and protect him. And he had a growing armory under the floorboards in Valance Road, everything from bayonets and Gurkha knives to a Luger automatic and shorn off shotguns. He was sorcum from others in the underground and antique shops. Reggie was more practical. He saw the Regal as a great opportunity to make money and get the good life that they longed for by making savvy business decisions. As Flan said, they were like chalk and cheese in many ways, both heading towards the same goal, but from different directions. It was time for Ronnie and Reggie to expand their business endeavours. The club was doing well and they were attracting a lot of interest, but they had identified some gaps in the needs of their patrons. So as well as offering games of snooker and a bar to hang out in, the Regal started to offer some add-on services. They put lock-up cubicles under the seats where thieves could store their tools. They provided storage for stolen items around the back of the Regal, and transport to remove them off site could also be arranged. And then there was the criminal bureau, like a dating service but for criminals, where the twins would match people who could help each other out. And of course there was a charge for all of these services, often a percentage of earnings. It seemed like the twins were flying under the radar. The serious local gangs weren't that interested in them. They were small fry for most of them, and they just weren't bothered. But then that changed. Three London dockers who unofficially ran the Mileand and Poplar areas of London decided that Ronnie and Reggie were getting a bit too big for their boots, so they sent them a challenge, in the form of an invitation to meet them for a drink at a certain pub the following Sunday morning. Now, remember there were no mobile phones, emails, or WhatsApp back then, so the invitation was sent via the underground network, which meant that a lot of people found out about it. Behind the twins back the only topic of conversation was the Sunday morning meeting. But Ronnie and Reggie, they said nothing. Nothing at all. All of their friends of the hall knew about it and waited for the explosion. None came. Nobody liked to mention it. Nothing was said. At the billiard hall, people were uneasy, suddenly remembering the dockers' records as amateur boxers. They were brothers, a good three inches taller than the twins, and all of them fought at heavyweights. Rumours started that maybe Ronnie and Reggie were scared to meet the Dockers. But they didn't seem to be, and they spent Saturday night having a raucous night out in a pub in Stoke Newington. Fortunately for the twins, they didn't seem to need much sleep, and would often be out until the early hours partying away, only napping for a couple of hours before being up and back at work the following day. So the Sunday morning came, and the Regal was the busiest it had been in a long time, as everyone wanted to see what was going to happen. And Ronnie was there unshaven and heavy eyed from the night before, while Reggie was smartly dressed in trousers and a sport shirt getting on with some repairs to the bar. They both seemed surprised by the number of visitors, but said nothing. The atmosphere was tense. The spectators didn't know what was happening. It was too quiet, and things were unsettled. And then at eleven fifty, Reggie put down his mug after enjoying a cup of tea, nodded at Ronnie, and the two of them strolled out of the door and down the road. Ronnie and Reggie arrived at the pub ten minutes late. The pub was empty apart from the three dockers who were stood drinking light ale in the private bar area. One of the men asked if the twins were drinking, and they nodded. The man ordered them both a shandy, beer mixed with lemonade, stating that that was what little boys drank. The barman poured the half pint drinks into tankards, and, sensing it was all about to kick off, scurried away, and he was right. There were only five people in that room, Ronnie, Reggie, and the three dockers. There were no other members of the public, and the staff were staying out of the way, not daring to enter. When the noise stopped and the manager was sure it was safe to enter, he peeked his head around the door, expecting to see Ronnie and Reggie laid out having been taught a lesson. He was shocked at the sight that lay before him. There was furniture strewn across the room and broken glass and blood everywhere, and then, in the middle of the chaos, there were two figures laying on the floor out cold. And they weren't Ronnie and Reggie Kray. The third docker was still being attacked by Ronnie who had to be pulled off him, and that was it. That day cemented Ronnie and Reggie's reputation as serious players. In many ways, Ronnie and Reggie were just big kids. They were twenty one and still living at home with their parents, which, while not unusual now, was at the time. Their mum still cooked their dinner, did their washing, ironed their shirts, and looked after the house. She'd heard rumours about her boys, but she didn't believe them. All boys got into trouble, didn't they? But Ronnie's obsession with young men and gangsters was taking over his every waking moment. He wanted notoriety, and he wanted the lifestyle of an American gangster. Ronnie was the colonel and his home was Fort Valence, and his army were his lieutenants. Ronnie was making his fantasy a reality, and he was copying everything he'd heard that the American gangsters would do. When Ronnie woke, his barber would be contacted who would rush to his house to give Ronnie a wet shave while he held court with his lieutenants issuing the day's instructions. His hairdresser would come to the house to cut his hair. The tailor would come to the house for measurements and fittings. His shirts and shoes would be ordered over the phone and delivered to the house. Other things he tried were yoga, having a masseuse come to the house every morning, and a diet of raw eggs as he believed that would make him strong and good at sex. Ronnie's obsessions were taking hold, and as he tried to turn himself into an American gangster, he became paranoid that the police were watching him and would sleep with the light on and a gun under his pillow. While still identical to look at, Ronnie was beginning to dominate the pair, and Reggie seemed to follow along, either because he found it exciting, or because of the way Ronnie reacted if Reggie said no. They were twenty two and there was no stopping them. They were the ideal complimentary couple. Ronnie would bring in the crowds, Reggie would fleece them. Ronnie would make their name for violence, Reggie would market it. When there was a serious fight, they could still join in together. Those few pounds would buy the business protection. If they had any bother, they would call Reggie and he would sort it out. So if they went into a business with a protection proposal and the business owner said no thanks, they would see their business broken into, smashed up, sometimes worse. It was in their interest to just say, Yes, please, and pay a few pounds a week for an easy life. Also, with the craze and their army looking after the premises, there was rarely any trouble. And if there was, it didn't last long. And other opportunities were coming the twins' way. Reggie was introduced to a forger called Aussie. Between them they set up a wealthy businessman who, when he realized he'd just lost fifteen hundred pounds, around forty five thousand pounds or sixty thousand US dollars today, turned up at the Regal with a shotgun. Big mistake. The man was given a beating and dumped in an alleyway in Whitechapel, yes, in Jack the Ripper territory, Jack obviously being much earlier. He was picked up by the police and charged twenty five pounds plus costs for possession of a firearm. They got involved in switching real jewellery for fakes, encouraging valuations, and then just as money exchanged hands the fake would be swapped in. This was known as Tweedle. And then there were the times they just sold fakes, no real jewellery, no valuations, just a hard sell to make a few pounds. This was known as jargons. But this was all just small fry, time consuming little swindles, just to put a few extra pounds in their pockets. They needed to think bigger. Originally gangs in England had been centred around the racetracks, but this had evolved by the time the craze came along. I recovering the earlier gangsters in a later season of the podcast, so I'm going to skim over it here. What is important is the 1955 Epsom Spring Meeting. This is an annual horse race meeting, and historically it's where the race course gangsters would make the most money. There were still two main big players on the race courses, and that was Billy Hill and Jack Spot Corner. You've heard their names earlier in this episode when I spoke about who was running the West End. Originally Billy Hill and Jack Spot had worked together, but in nineteen sixty four there had been an incident named the Battle of Frith Street, and they were now rivals. Jack was the older of the two, and as the Epsom meet loomed, he knew he was going to have trouble with Billy Hill unless he had some assistance, so off he went to the Regal. The twins were skeptical, thinking Jack was there to take over their patch, but instead he offered them a pitch at the races. They looked at each other and said they would have to think the offer over. They knew nothing about, and nor did they care about Betting or racing. They went for the crack. They went to see all the big time villains and to eat, drink, and socialise. They were the new kids on the block, and they wanted the older generation to know it. Following the Epsom meet, Ronnie and Reggie were challenged to a fight in a pub in Islington by Billy Blythe, Mad Frankie Fraser, and some others. These were colleagues of Billy Hill. The twins were excited and prepared their battle plan and their weapons. They arrived at the pub ready for a showdown, but it was empty. They waited. Nothing. Billy Hill had stepped in and called it off. He didn't need to be involved in this. The twins were disappointed it was a setback, but they weren't going to let it get to them. They were sure it wouldn't be long before Billy Hill and Jack Spot retired from the scene, and they would be ready to step in and take over the West End. Reggie dreamed of the money they could make, while Ronnie dreamed of all out war to obliterate any remaining followers of Billy and Jack, so that he, I mean they, could take over London just like Al Capone had taken rule over Chicago. But Jack was annoying the twins. He was older, he was weak, and he wasn't really helping them move forward in their plans. But then Jack was attacked outside his flat one night, in May nineteen fifty six by mad Frankie Fraser and Alf Warren. His face was slashed, adding to similar wounds he had acquired previously. Ronnie and Reggie went to visit him in hospital, sure that this was it. Jack must now be ready for all out war. But Jack was not interested. As they spoke, he just rolled over and turned his back to them. He had retired. And not long after, Billy Hill retired too. That was the end of an era, and it left the West End open to the craze, but it wasn't that easy without the support of Jack. So they decided to concentrate their efforts back in Bethnal Green, the area that they knew and had built up followers and respect. But the twins were now on a hit list. The Italians had moved into the East End and wanted to ensure any allies of Jack Spot knew they were in charge. A few days later, they finally emerged. Ronnie followed medieval rules of war, which meant as the colonel, he would lead, so he stepped out of the van first. The others gathered around peepholes in the side of the van to see what would happen. As Ronnie entered the bar, he said, Some of you want to settle some business with me and my brother. We're here. Let's get it over with. When nobody replied, he shouted, Why don't you speak English? A bottle was thrown at Ronnie's head, at which point he pulled a Mauser automatic and fired it three times before turning round and walking back to the van. The country was still recovering from the war, and the East End was going through lots of changes. Housing, supermarkets, and schools were being built to replace those that were bombed or damaged during the war, and a demolition order was received on the Regal, which was to be knocked down to make way for flats. And the people at the Regal were changing too. The young men that had joined the twins for the parties and fights had found partners and were having babies. Their priorities were changing. They were replacing party nights with sleepless nights, and their families had to come first. Reggie, his mind fully on the business, was not interested in women, they would just get in the way and stunt the business growth. And Ronnie, he was openly homosexual, enjoying the company of young men on a casual basis. And so it was that as the original followers of the twins left, they were replaced. But Ronnie and Reggie had learnt a lot along the way, and replacements weren't happy go lucky lads, they were criminals who could help the twins to grow their empire. The colonel from Fort Valence was creating what would become known as the firm. Ronnie and Reggie Kray had become the ones to watch. Other gangs generally wanted to avoid them. They were known to be vicious and most people just wanted to steer clear of them. But Ronnie loved a good gunfight. It allowed him to use his prized possessions. The problem was that Ronnie would go out and give someone a good kicking or shoot them in the leg during a dispute, and he would then go into hiding and leave Reggie to pick up the pieces and talk him out of trouble. After all, no one really knew who was who. Others weren't so lucky, they didn't have an identical twin to get them out of trouble, and lots of Ronnie and Reggie's acquaintances ended up in prison, or worse. But the twins did everything they could to look after them from the outside. They would write to them, send money to the family, a hamper at Christmas, and would keep an eye on their wives, warning them off if their eyes started to wander. And this gave the twins loyalty, because when those men came out of prison, they owed the twins for looking after them. Tensions were growing between Ronnie and Reggie. Reggie was sick of covering for Ronnie and just wanted to grow the business. Ronnie just wanted to be out fighting, and it was that which ended with a three-year prison sentence for him on the 5th of November 1956. Thank you for listening to The Krays Web. This was episode 4, The Colonel. Next week, in episode 5, Krazy, I will be discussing the downward spiral of Ronnie Kray. Finally, I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who has helped me put this podcast together. Please check out the show notes on my website for more information on the books and reference material that I use for my research. Until next time, stay safe.