Johnny Ramensky (6th April 1905 - 4th November 1972) was a Scottish career criminal who used his safe-cracking abilities as a commando during World War II. A popular song about him, The Ballad Of Johnny Ramensky, was written by Labour MP Norman Buchan and recorded by singer Enoch Kent, Buchan's brother-in-law. Though a career criminal, Ramensky received the nickname "Gentle Johnny" due to the fact he never used violence when being apprehended by the law. His friend Sonny Leitch, also a career criminal who served in the armed forces, said that Ramensky told him that he had stolen a hoard of Nazi loot from the Rome area during the Allied march on Rome in 1944. Ramensky was unable to give up his safe-cracking lifestyle and spent the time after the war in and out of jail, eventually dying in Perth Royal Infirmary after suffering a stroke in Perth Prison, where he was serving a one year sentence after being caught on a shop roof in Ayr.
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