I've heard all the stories about my brothers, but I hope this book shows a different side of the twins.
Only one man knew everything about Ronnie and Reggie Kray. Until now nobody has ever revealed the truth about the Firm. Gossip and rumor have been rife, fact has blended into fiction, and the unwritten law of the street meant that the real story was buried. But before his death, the eldest Kray brother, Charlie, decided to set the record straight once and for all. Revealing everything to Colin Fr, his co-author, he finally told his incredible story. By the man who knew them best, this is the ultimate history of the twins who ruled the East End with their peculiar blend of seductive glamour and terrifying violence.
Doing the Business
The Final Confession of the Senior Kray Brother
By Colin Fry, Charlie KrayJohn Blake Publishing Ltd
Copyright © 1993 Colin Fry
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84358-287-8Contents
Title Page,
Dedication,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS,
INTRODUCTION,
1 FIGHTING FOR SUCCESS,
2 PROTECTING THEIR INVESTMENT,
3 THE WILD WEST IN THE EAST END,
4 ESCAPE FROM LONG GROVE,
5 THE GLAMOUR GAME,
6 HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING,
7 OUT OF AFRICA,
8 THE KENNEDYS V. THE MOB,
9 THE CANADIAN CONNECTION,
10 ONE NIGHT IN PARIS,
11 HE DID IT HIS WAY,
12 THE GEORGE RAFT STORY,
13 NEW YORK, NEW YORK,
14 NEMESIS,
EPILOGUE,
POSTSCRIPT,
Copyright,
CHAPTER 1
FIGHTING FOR SUCCESS
Ron Kray had been hit time and time again and his face was showing the signs of the night's work. His cheeks were bruised and grazed and his left eye was completely closed, but he had finally beaten his man to the floor in a sudden flurry of pure aggression; winning was the name of the game for Ron and he didn't care how he did it. His brothers hadn't fared much better, but it was without doubt Charlie who had come off worst of all. He was in complete agony, doubled up in pain from the severe beating he had taken. It wasn't a good night for the Krays and it marked a fatal turning point in all their careers.
They vigorously washed the blood from their aching hands as they vowed never to be beaten like that again. Ron and Reg talked about the future and how they would get even; Charlie could only talk of getting out — he had had enough! The purple blur of half-shut eyes, the mangled hands and the bloodied features would soon be a thing of the past for all three Kray brothers. Never would they let this happen again, never would they allow themselves to fight on someone else's terms.
The day was the 11th December 1951 and the brothers had all been fighting on the same bill at The Royal Albert Hall, the only time this feat has ever been achieved. The boxing days were over for the Krays. Next time they would fight by their own rules — street rules.
Charlie had been a fighter most of his life, both in the ring and on the street. In London's East End in the 1950s, fighting was a way of life — and death. It was about survival of the fittest. Street gangs and street people all settled their scores in the same way: with their fists. Fight first, ask questions afterwards. Careless talk cost lives.
The Kray boys had pedigree. Cannonball Lee was a champion bare-knuckle fighter. He was also their grandfather, Jimmy Lee. Lee had fought in the days when boxing didn't have many rules. Just the street. It was every man for himself. He'd entertained the boys for years with tales of prize fights and fighters; the same stories over and over again. They never tired of them. Fighting was in their blood.
When Charlie decided to pick up the gloves, he met with strong resistance from his mother Violet. As Cannonball's daughter, she had lived through years of watching her father come home hurt after bouts of fighting. She had spent her childhood helping her mother to pick up the pieces of him, only to wait for him to dust himself down and start all over again. but she didn't want to watch her own boys do that.
Their father, though, took a different point of view. If they wanted to fight, then that was OK with him. After all, he couldn't do much about it, even if he'd wanted to. But he knew of the advantages that boxing had brought. He had fought as a youngster and was plea
