A THIEF, AN OFFICER AND A GENTLE
How life of notorious safecracker and war hero who stole the hearts of public came to an end in Perth Prison
He spent more than half of his life behind bars - and his final days in Perth Prison – but Johnny Ramensky will always be remembered as a gentleman.
A safecracking specialist, he was as agile as he was cunning, with a healthy dose of both guts and guile.
Stealing may have been his talent but it was the hearts of the public which was this unique man’s greatest treasure.
From criminal to commando, and then back again, Ramensky was as famous as he was infamous, loved by the public as much as he was loathed by financial institutions.
He had an immense sense of nobility and courage, qualities – coupled with his safecracking skills – which would play a major role in the Allied forces securing crucial Nazi secrets as World War II raged across Europe.
He was also involved in a mission which may have been the inspiration for the classic boys’ own WWII adventure novel - and subsequent movie adaptation, The Guns of Navarone.
Born in Glenboig to Lithuanian immigrants in 1905, Ramensky lost his father at an early age but followed in his footsteps by working in the local mines, where he learned how to use explosives – a skill which would prove useful, albeit illegally, in his adult years.
When his mother uprooted the family to the Gorbals area of Glasgow, 11-year-old Ramensky, then a pupil of Rutherglen Academy, soon fell into a life of crime and it was not long before he found himself imprisoned – something he would get rather used to – when he was sent to Borstal at the age of 18.
However, Ramensky was no ordinary prisoner, nor was he an ordinary criminal. He was a safecracker with a speciality for explosives. His small frame and superb agility allowed him to break into the most complex of business premises and banks, but never homes.
The public were never a target of his daring raids.
Ramensky loathed violence, offering no resistance when caught red-handed by the law and
‘Gentleman’ Johnny Ramensky was in and out of prison immediately would plead guilty to his crime. Even the police tasked with stopping his one-man crime spree could not hide their respect for him, eventually coining the nickname ‘Gentleman Johnny’ for Ramensky.
James Binnie, a former detective constable with Strathclyde Police in Govan, Glasgow, described the first of many encounters with Ramensky. He said: “A uniformed constable called me in to say he had caught a man with £100 in cash. In the early 40s, this was a lot of money.
“I went to speak to this small, squat man with blue eyes who told me his name was John Ramsay from Rutherglen.
“He insisted the money was winnings from a bookmaker’s but I told him I didn’t accept his explanation. Then he said I’d probably know him better as Johnny Ramensky and that the money was from a post office.
“I went to the post office in question and asked the keyholder to open the safe. He told me it was a waste of time as everything was in order but when we opened the safe, the door swung open and it was totally empty.
“We kept Johnny in custody overnight and the next morning we discovered that he had removed the bricks from his cell wall and had managed to get into the next cell.
“Luckily it was locked, but that was Johnny for you.”
It was Ramensky’s cunning which would attract the attention of the army during World War II.
Between sentences, Ramensky had married and become a father but it was not long before he was back behind bars, this time inside the notorious Peterhead Prison.
During this spell in jail, in 1934, tragedy struck when his young wife died. After being refused permission to attend the funeral by prison bosses, an enraged Ramensky made the first of five attempts to escape. Wearing only his underpants, Ramensky fled Peterhead and even swam across a freezing river before being discovered in Aberdeen more than a day later.
Upon returning to the prison following his attempt at freedom, Ramensky was shackled inside his cell as punishment before MP John McGovern, of Shettleston, campaigned for the shackles to be removed. Ramensky was the last man to be shackled inside a Scottish prison and was the first man to ever escape from Peterhead Prison.
It was from his prison cell in 1942, as WWII raged across Europe, that Ramensky’s life took a curious turn. His prowess as a safecracker brought him to the attention of the Armed Forces, who offered him pardon if he used his skills to benefit the nation. He agreed and enlisted with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, where he was given commando training to complement his already well-honed expertise at