Introduction

"Gentle Johnny" Ramensky was a man of many parts who was both a criminal and a war hero, a master of escape who spent the greater part of his life in prison and a master burglar who was admired and looked upon with affection by the police who arrested him. He became something of a legendary folk hero as a result of his many escapes from prison (and his Military Medal won as a result of his exploits behind enemy lines in WW2). He may not have been a pillar of society but his personal qualities earned him respect.

Early Years

Johnny Ramensky was born in 1905, the son of a Lithuanian immigrant. His father was a miner who died when Johnny was young and the young Ramensky also became a miner. It was while he was down the pit that he learned his skills with dynamite which were to prove so useful to him in later years.
Johnny drifted in and out of trouble from the age of eleven and moved to the Gorbals area of Glasgow during the Depression with his mother and two sisters. He developed an amazing physical strength and acrobatic ability but in order to obtain some money, he became a burglar, specializing in robberies involving climbing up external rone-pipes to gain entry to premises. He also developed skills in picking locks and safe-cracking with explosives.

While his activities were criminal, he had his own code of conduct and raided business premises rather than people's homes. And when he was caught, he never resisted arrest. His philosophy seemed to be "if you are caught, you are caught - it's all part of the job".

His life of detention began at age 18 when he was given a term in Borstal (a prison for young offenders) but later he served various terms in both Barlinnie and Peterhead Prisons. He eventually spent more time behind bars than outside.
Johnny was married during one of his spells out of prison and the couple had a baby daughter. But in 1934, while he was serving a sentence in Peterhead, he was told that his young wife was dead. He was refused permission to attend the funeral and Johnny's sense of justice was outraged. So he made the first of many escapes from the prison.

War Service

In 1942, he was serving yet another jail sentence in Peterhead Prison. The army offered to give him special commando training and Johnny accepted. After all, it meant he was out of prison, earning a wage - and fighting for his country. Part of a crack commando unit, he was dropped behind enemy lines and used his skills with both explosives and burglary to good effect, stealing important German documents.

During the war in Italy, he entered Rome with the first troops to reach the city and blew open the safes in 14 foreign embassies - all in one day!
For his commando service and dangerous exploits, he was awarded the Military Medal and given a free pardon at the end of the war. But not longer after his return to Glasgow he was back to his life of burglary and was caught and jailed again.

Back to Crime, Imprisonment - and Escapes

In November 1955 he was sentenced to 10 years "preventive detention" at Peterhead Prison, which should have given him a few privileges. But he found there were none. He served over two years with exemplary conduct and still there was no move to the better conditions of "preventive detention". So Johnny responded in the only way he knew how - he escaped. Of course, he was later recaptured but he was at least given an opportunity to put his case to the prison authorities - which achieved nothing. Johnny escaped (and was recaptured) from Peterhead (Scotland's strongest jail) no less than five times including three times in 1958. Sometimes the prison warders didn't know whether he was inside or outside the prison. His fifth escape evoked wide-spread sympathy amongst the public which was illustrated by a song "The Ballad of Johnny Ramensky" by Norman Buchan (a Member of Parliament), which was printed in the Scotsman newspaper.

Not long after starting a prison sentence in Barlinnie in Glasgow, Johnny was in the exercise yard and suddenly threw off his boots and shot up the wall, using cracks in the mortar as toe-holds. He reached a roof - but could get no further. Equally, the warders couldn't get him down - and Johnny was demanding to see the Chief of the Prisons Department! Attempts to reach the roof were met by a barrage of roof slates - watched by a growing audience outside the prison walls. He stayed out on the roof for five hours, eventually coming down when it started to get cold.

In 1962 Detective Superintendent Robert Colquhoun (retired), said "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." Before he had retired, DS Colquhoun received a message from Johnny (who was once more in prison). He had heard that the policeman was seriously ill. The message contained his good wishes for his speedy recovery, plus the advice that he'd been taking too much out of himself chasing Johnny around!

Johnny remarried and started a second family during his all too short periods out of prison but persisted in his life of crime into his old age - by which time his abilities as a cat burglar were beginning to fail him. In 1972 he collapsed in Perth Prison and died shortly after in hospital. In addition to his family, the many people who attended his funeral came from both the law enforcement and the law breaking sides of society. Whatever his faults, Johnny Ramensky was respected by them all. His obituary appeared in every Scottish national newspaper.

Although known throughout most of his life as Johnny Ramensky, he latterly changed his name to John Ramsey. He had a strong code of ethics and when caught, would freely confess to his wrong-doings, and even alerted authorities to possible unexploded gelignite in order that it be disposed of safely. When any war savings or pension books were found in safes, Johnny would post them back to their owners.

In prison, he also gained a reputation for wielding a pen and fighting the causes of other prisoners.

In Peterhead Prison in 1941, he felt compelled to take up a new cause: a national one. He wrote to the prison governor asking to fight against the Nazis. He joined the commandos and promised to stay on the straight and narrow whilst in uniform. He had a successful and diverse career in the army which even involved parachuting behind enemy lines.

However, Ramensky found it difficult to keep away from his life of crime. Soon after his demob he was apprehended attempting to crack a safe in York. Although Johnny was in and out of prisons until his death, he was well liked amongst prison chiefs, police officers and those he encountered in all ranks of society. This was in spite of breaking out of Peterhead Prison five times and climbing onto the roof of Barlinnie Prison.

Two songs have been penned in Johnny's honour. Roddy McMillan, the late Para Handy actor, wrote Let Ramensky Go and the late Labour MP, Norman Buchan wrote The Ballad of Johnny Ramensky. Johnny Ramensky died in 1972 in Perth Prison. His legend lives on in Scottish folklore as the ultimate likeable rogue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEs1zU1ZIk4

"Let Ramensky Go"

By (Roddy McMillan)

Alley-ee alley-ay alley-oo alley-oh
Open up your prison gates
And let Ramensky go
There was a lad in Glesga town, Ramensky was his name
Johnny didnae know it then but he was set for fame
Now Johnny was a gentle lad, there was only one thing wrong
He had an itch to strike it rich and trouble came along
He did a wee bit job or two, he blew them open wide
But they caught him and they tried him and they bunged him right inside
And when they let him out he said he'd do his best but then
He yielded tae temptation and they bunged him in again
Now Johnny made the headlines, entertained the boys below
When he climbed up tae the prison roof and gave a one-man show
But when the war was raging the brass-hats had a plan
Tae purloin some information, but they couldnae find a man
So they nobbled John in prison, asked if he would take a chance
Then they dropped him in a parachute beyond the coast of France
Then Johnny was a hero, they shook him by the hand
For stealing secret documents frae the German High Command
So Johnny was rewarded for the job he did sae well
They granted him a pardon frae the prison and the cell
But Johnny was in error when he tried his hand once more
For they caught him at a blastin', and it wasnae worth the score
The jury pled for mercy, but the judge's voice was heard
Ten years without remission, and that's my final word
Ten years, my lord, that's far too long, wee Johnny cried in vain
For if you send me up for ten I'll never come out again
Oh give me another chance, my lord, I'm tellin' you no lie
But if you send me up for ten I'll sicken and I'll die
Now Peterhead's a fortress, its walls are thick and stout
But it couldnae hold wee Johnny when he felt like walking out
Five times he took a powder, he left them in a fix
And every day they sweat and pray in case he makes it six