Glasgow Crime Stories: New episode on the life of Johnny Ramensky

In Glasgow's underworld, most members are given nicknames that reflect their propensity for violence.

However, one of the city's most famous criminals was instead known as Gentle Johnny during a career spanning six decades.

Though safecracker Johnny Ramensky was a hardened law breaker he hated any rough stuff and had his own code of ethics.

His lawyer the legendary Joe Beltrami once remarked: "On one occasion I defended him once on charges of attempted bank robbery and police assault. He didn't mind the robbery, but he was incensed at the assault. The charge was later dropped. "

Ramensky enjoyed breaking into banks, building societies and post offices but he would never break into people's homes. 

Large organisations and institutions were his targets, with Ramensky taking the view that they were well insured and could take the loss.

READ MORE: Listen to our new podcast on Gilbert McIlwrick - the 'Quiet Man' of policing

Ramensky was also unusual in that he often pled guilty to his crimes in the hope of a lighter sentence and to save the time of the court.

His strong ethical code meant whenever he came upon pension or savings books in safes, he would post them back to their owners.

While serving one of many sentences he wrote to the authorities, warning he had left an undetonated explosive charge in a safe.

Prisoners respected him as the clever Ramensky would take up their causes and write letters on their behalf. 

His safe blowing skills meant he was always in demand from Glasgow's crime bosses.

If one of the city godfathers like Arthur Thompson Snr needed to bust a safe, he would call on Ramensky.

But he was never a gangster or a hard man like those who hired his services.

So who was Johnny Ramensky?

He was born Yonas Ramanauckas on April 4, 1906, in Glenboig, Lanarkshire, to a poor immigrant couple from Lithuania.

Yonas' father was a miner, brought to Scotland as cheap labour to break a 10-month strike at a local pit in 1901.

Life expectancy in those days was short and little Yonas lost his dad when he was just eight-years-old.

By the age of 11 he was in and out of trouble but got a job in the mines after leaving school at 14.

READ MORE: 'The Big Fella': The Glasgow Crime Story of top cop William Ewing

The Ramanauckas family - Yonas, his mother and two sisters - left Lanarkshire and moved to the Gorbals in the heart of Glasgow during the Depression.

With little cash, Yonas turned to crime and by the age of 16 he found himself in Polmont Young Offenders Institution, near Falkirk, for burglary.

The tough regime there turned him into a fitness fanatic and he was an accomplished gymnast by his release in 1924. 

His acrobatic skills were put to good use, scaling walls and drainpipes to break into premises.

He became a first-class picker of locks and when the locks defied him, he used his expertise with explosives to crack safes. 

It's not clear, however, when or why Yonas changed his name to Johnny Ramensky. There were suggestions people found it difficult pronouncing his name, while others say he suffered racial discrimination. 

Whatever the reason, the year after his release, now aged 20, he was in more bother. Appearing in court under the name Johnny Ramensky for the first time, he was sentenced to 18 months for a string of 16 robberies in the West End and South Side of Glasgow. 

He started working after his release as a salesman, but never strayed far from trouble and was back inside in 1927 - this time for three years. 

While in Barlinnie Prison he first became known to the wider Scottish public in July 1931 when he climbed a 60ft drainpipe from the recreation hall and gave a gymnastics display on the roof. 

He chatted to on-lookers and at one point asked: "Will someone throw me up a couple of hard-boiled eggs?" 

He ignored pleas to come down but eventually gave himself up after five hours. 

After his release he changed his name again, this time to John Ramsay and married Margaret McManus in October 1931. 

He gave his occupation as a coalminer and an address in Cathcart Road, Glasgow, as his home. 

For a short spell he became a bookmaker and worked at the dog tracks, but it wasn't long before he was back on the wrong side of the tracks.

With his brother-in-law Mario Demarco, they blew open a safe at a baker's in Aberdeen in March 1934 stealing £250.

They were spotted by police on the Glasgow train when it pulled in at Perth. 

Ramensky made a run for it, but he was caught after a chase by a porter and a signalman. 

Forensic evidence was crucial in convicting both men.

A heel print from Demarco's shoe was found at the crime scene.

While a torn bank note found in Ramensky's pocket matched the other half found on the baker's premises. 

Demarco got 18 months, while Ramensky got five years penal servitude. 

Penal servitude was hard labour under different conditions from ordinary imprisonment. It had been substituted for deportation in 1853, and was later abolished in 1948. 

At Peterhead Prison, the hard labour involved breaking and transporting granite at a nearby quarry.

Ramensky, now aged 30, captured the attention of the nation when he became the first man to break out of Peterhead Prison in November 1934. 

He did after claiming he had been refused permission to attend his wife's funeral, though some say she was still alive at the time.

Ramensky scaled the 10ft inside wall and then managed a 20-foot drop from the premier wall to freedom outside in blizzard conditions. 

A huge manhunt was mounted, and he was caught the following day, having travelled 22 miles in foot,

Soaking wet and with no jacket, or boots, Ramensky was returned to Peterhead after hospital treatment.

The authorities decided to place shackles on his legs to prevent further escape and he was also placed in solitary confinement. 

However, Ramensky's local MP John McGovern, who represented Shettleston, protested at what he saw was barbaric treatment of his constituent

As a result of his campaign this method of restraint was banned in prisons in December that year.

Ramensky went down in history as the last man to be shackled in a Scottish jail

He served his time and was released, but again, Ramensky returned to his old ways. 

In July 1938 he blew open the safe of an Aberdeen laundry.  This time the haul was £180.

In total he escaped five times from Peterhead Prison - then the country's toughest jail.

Firstly in 1934, again in 1952 and three times in 1958 turning him into the first ever criminal celebrity.

It was while in Peterhead in 1943, as war raged across Europe, that Ramensky's life took a dramatic turn.

His prowess as a safecracker brought him to the attention of the Armed Forces, who offered him a pardon if he used his skills to the benefit of the war effort.

He enlisted with the Royal Highland Fusiliers and was given commando training at the Special Operations Executive headquarters in Hampshire.

On his first day Ramensky was shown a selection of safes all of which he opened easily.

He became a key weapon for the allies as part of a crack commando unit, dropped behind enemy lines, breaking into Nazi strongholds to steal important German documents.

He also taught other soldiers how to open locked safes, as he was only ever used for the big jobs.

Ramensky was assigned to 30 Commando, which operated ahead of front-line troops, gathering intelligence for the Allied forces before and after the D-Day landings of 1944. Discovering the Germans' intentions and defensive capabilities was vital.

In Italy, he blew open the safes of 14 foreign embassies in Rome - all in one day. 

It's also been said that Ramensky cracked the safes of Field Marshall Rommel at his HQ  in North Africa, Nazi leaders Herman Goering and Joseph Goebbels and even Adolf Hitler. 

When the war drew to a close, Sergeant 'Ramsay' was awarded the Military Medal for bravery. 

His discharge papers were stamped: 'Exemplary conduct.' 

While successfully obtaining key enemy documents to aid the war effort, there are claims he also helped himself to some Nazi treasures.

Rumours persist to this day that some loot plundered by Ramensky included a treasure trove of artwork, jewellery and gold which ended tip in a military storage deport in Carfin, Lanarkshire.

However, Ramensky couldn't stay straight for long and despite a post-war pardon, was back in court in York in 1947 and got five years. 

An early release meant he was back to crime quicker than expected and back in Peterhead for another five years, during which he made his second escape in 1952. 

He fooled guards by leaving a dummy under his bedclothes and went over the wall again. 

Released in 1955, at the age of 50, he again married, this time to widow Lily Mulholland. Less than a year after the wedding he was caught on a garage roof after blowing open a safe in Glasgow. 

Lord Carmont, the judge who cleaned up the razor gangs in Glasgow with savage sentences, was on the bench when Ramensky came up for sentence. 

Johnny begged in vain for mercy saying: "I have had more than my share of suffering.

" I am pleading not only for a chance, but for the happiness of a home and a good woman's love. Give me a chance as only good can result from it." 

Lord Carmont didn't want to know and told him: "You are a menace to society. Any sentence of less than 10 years would be useless." 

In 1958, Ramensky cemented his celebrity status when escaping from Peterhead three times in a year. 

In January he avoided capture for 24 hours. In October, he used a home-made ladder and a grappling hook to go over the wall again. 

He was on the run for 40 hours before he was caught, hiding in a hayloft by a seven-year-old boy. 

 

He was captured and taken to a nearby police station and was given ham, two eggs, tea and toast from a hotel.

In December that year, he got away again, this time for 10 days. 

A crowd of 200 - mainly women - gathered to see him off from the local police station after his final recapture. 

Ramensky's frequent escapes were also bad for prison inmates. 

He was a good fooballer even at his age. He was captain and right-back of the jail team called the Hams and Bams. However, when he went on the run, their games were cancelled. 

In 1962 Detective Chief Superintendent Robert Colquhoun, a retired cop who knew Ramensky well, received a letter from his old adversary. No one had put him behind bars more times.

Mr Colquhoun had fallen ill. Ramensky sent him a letter from jail with his good wishes for his speedy recovery and telling him that he'd been taking too much out of himself chasing him. 

Colquhoun recalled the letter in his memoir Life Begins at Midnight.

He wrote: "Like most policemen who have come in contact with Ramensky, I find him an engaging character, the kind of man who, applying his brain to another, more acceptable, type of occupation, could probably have made good." 

Freed again in 1964, Ramensky blew the safe at Woolworths in Paisley. But it was an American safe and he used too much explosives and the blast blew out every window in the building. Unfortunately, the explosion was so loud that officers in the local police station heard the blast. 

For that, Ramensky received two more years - a modest sentence considering his record. His lawyer Joe Beltrami secured a lenient disposal with a plea in mitigation in which he said: "He has asked me not to refer to his wartime exploits, but after the war he had difficulty, like thousands of others, re-establishing himself. Broken promises, suspicion and false adulation were the elements of this man's experience." 

A statement from Ramensky himself was also read out in court: "I worked for months with a pick and shovel and tried desperately for other work. Promises of help made to me while I was in prison were never fulfilled." 

In 1967, aged 62, he staged a bank job on the night safe at the National Commercial - now the Royal Bank of Scotland - in Main Street, Rutherglen. 

Again, it was loud blast and he hampered making his getaway because the haul was largely in old half-crown coins. He had no chance of outrunning the police. 

Two officers were on patrol nearby and the force of the blast blew them on to their backs. 

They recovered quickly, gave chase and captured him - four more years. 

In 1970, he tackled the strongroom of the Stirling Burgh Factors office. His luck ran out when he fell from the building. 

After 14 weeks of recuperation, he was jailed again. 

This time he was sentenced to two years inside. On his release, he was caught on a shop roof in Ayr, which resulted in another year inside. 

While serving that sentence in Perth Prison, Ramsay collapsed in 1972 and died in hospital. 

Such was the respect Ramensky had, both sides of the law attended the war hero's funeral at St Kentigern's Cemetery in Lambhill and his obituary appeared in all the major Scottish newspapers.

One published on November 6 read: 'Johnny Ramensky, safe-blower extraordinary, hero of World War II commando exploits behind enemy lines, ace jail beaker and legendary figure of the Scottish crime world, died in Perth Royal Infirmary on Saturday.' 

Over the years tales of his life became the subject of songs, books and movies despite spending 40 of his 67 years behind bars.

His various escape attempts evoked widespread sympathy from the public, illustrated in the song, "The Ballad of Johnny Ramensky", by the late Labour MP Norman Buchan.

There are also those who say Ramensky's character was the inspiration behind the film The Safecracker, a 1958 movie starring Ray Milland as an expert on locks who turns safecracker. Scotland Yard eventually catches him and he is sentenced to 10 years inside.  

It has also been said that the classic World War Two adventure novel The Guns of Navarone by Alistair McLean - and subsequent Hollywood movie adaptation - was based on some of Johnnys commando exploits.

As a Glaswegian McLean would have been well aware of the Ramensky name.

There has also been talk more recently of a movie about his life featuring Peter Mullan and James Cosmo.  

Ramensky's strong code of ethics, daring feats during World War II and charisma have earned him in a place in the history books despite his criminal record.

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.

As a skilled safe cracker Ramensky was often a victim of his own success with police officers immediately suspecting him and witnesses recognising him at the various crime scenes.

Ramensky was also unlucky with many of various safe cracking ventures according to Beltrami, who died in 2015.

He explained: "He was once caught coming out of another bank with nothing.

"There had been three drawers adjacent to the safe.

"Johnny opened the first two, which were empty, and left. The third, we learned, contained £160,000."

Ramensky's distinctive appearance often made it easy for eyewitnesses to pick him out at identity parades.

Such was his celebrity status that he was once mobbed in the 1960's while on holiday in Ayr with his wife. 

His life of crime, his escapes and his personal criminal code would ordinarily have brought him a degree of notoriety.

But it was his desire to serve his country in its hour of need and his escapades behind enemy lines without care for his safety that set Ramensky apart. 

One former police chief Detective Chief Supt James Binnie of Glasgow CID best summed up Ramensky: "Although he was a criminal, he was the type of man for whom you had to have a certain respect and fondness."