NOTORIOUS
NEW SERIES ON SCOTLAND’S INFAMOUS PRISONERS
THE GREAT ESCAPEE
The incredible story of safecracker Johnny Ramensky who spent 40 of his 67 years in jail despite managing to break free FIVE times
IN SCOTTISH folklore he’s the master safecracker who became a legend for his prison escapes.
The story of “Gentle” Johnny Ramensky has lived on for generations as tales of his extraordinary life became the subject of songs, books and movies.
After spending 40 of his 67 years in prison, Ramensky could easily have been written off as nothing more than a common criminal but his strong code of ethics, his daring feats during World War II and his charisma despite his criminal record have earned him in a place in the Scottish history books.
Even Peterhead Prison, where he famously spent many years, has created an exhibition in their museum to chart the different aspects of his life and career.
Gambling and safe blowing were in Ramensky’s blood and despite attempts to “go straight” he never quite succeeded.
It only added to his allure and he was something of a celebrity among all classes of society. His life of crime began quite unremarkably, at the age of 16, when the young Yonas Ramanauckas became fed up of no work and no money and turned to burglary. It wasn’t long before he was locked up in Polmont Young Offenders – or borstal as it was known then.
Without a father to guide him – his Lithuanian migrant dad died when he was eight – he learned how to blow dynamite and gelignite at the age of 14 after a stint down the mines in Lanarkshire and it wasn’t long before he moved on to picking locks and blowing open safes.
He changed his name, first to Johnny Ramensky, then John Ramenski and finally John Ramsay and it was 1934 when he became known to the public after breaking out of Peterhead for the first time. The public sympathised with the young prisoner once it emerged he had escaped following the death of his beloved wife, Margaret, who passed away just three years after they married, and he was refused permission to attend her funeral. It was the first of five escapes from jail and his fifth escape was illustrated by a song, The Ballad of Johnny Ramensky, by MP Norman Buchan. Coupled with great strength and gymnastic skills his safecracking skills meant he was always in demand from Glasgow’s crime bosses. But he had one strict rule – he refused to use violence and he determined that no one would be hurt because of his criminality. When apprehended, he would quietly go with the police.
Indeed, when his adversary Detective Superintendent Robert Colquhoun took ill, Ramensky sent him a note wishing him well and suggested he had perhaps been working too hard pursuing him.
His strong ethical code saw him refuse to target individual houses but businesses only and whenever he came upon pension books or savings in safes, he would post them back to their owners.
Prisoners adored him – he would take up their causes and complaints and write letters on their behalf. But in 1941 he felt compelled to take on a new cause. The war effort. From his cell in Peterhead prison Ramensky wrote repeatedly to officials seeking permission to join the
army, which attracted the attention of Major-General Sir Robert Laycock.
Ramensky was enlisted with the Royal Fusiliers in January 1943 and transferred to the Commandos, where he was trained as a soldier while also instructing others on the use of explosives.
He spent his entire war career with 30 Commando and it was with them he parachuted behind enemy lines to perform sabotage missions.
It’s said he blew safes and retrieved important documents from Rommel’s headquarters in North Africa and Hermann Göring’s Carinhall in the Schorfheide. His efforts reached a climax during the Italian campaign, where he blew open 14 embassy strong boxes, or safes, in only one day. Ramensky was demobbed in 1946 and he tried to start a career as a bookmaker.
His second wife, Lily Mulholland who he married in 1955, tried to keep him on the straight and narrow but Johnny had become institutionalised and found it difficult to adapt to a life without crime.
But the master escapologist couldn’t break free from his fate and in 1972, while serving time for being caught on the roof of an Ayr shop, he had a fatal stroke.
His life’s philosophy had been “if you’re caught, you’re caught” and it seemed Gentle Johnny Ramensky had been caught for one last time. His funeral was packed with mourners, including law enforcement and those from the underworld.
His obituary appeared in every Scots newspaper and whatever his faults, Ramensky was respected by all.