The Postcard
A postcard that was published by Gordon Smith, Publisher, of Stroud Green Road, London N.
The card was posted in London using a 1d. stamp on Friday the 6th. April 1906. It was sent to:
Signor Walter Grossenbacher,
Hôtel Savoie,
Nervi,
Genoa,
Italie.
The recipient's name and address stretched across the divided back of the card.
Mansion House, London
Mansion House, built between the years 1739 and 1752, is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London. It is a Grade I listed building.
It is used for some of the City of London's official functions, including two annual white tie dinners. At the Easter banquet, the main speaker is the Foreign Secretary, who then receives a reply from the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, i.e. the longest-serving ambassador.
In early June, it is the turn of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to give his "Mansion House Speech" about the state of the British economy.
The most famous Mansion House Speech was that of 1911 by David Lloyd George, in which he warned the German Empire against opposing British influence during the period leading up to the Great War.
The Mappin and Webb Building
The neo-gothic building to the right was known as the Mappin and Webb building at number one Poultry. It is sadly no more.
It was designed by John Belcher in 1870, and survived until 1994 when it was demolished despite a fiercely fought and highly publicised campaign to save it. The fact that the building was listed (along with 5 others that were also listed and demolished) appeared to count for nothing once powerful financial interests became involved.
Lord Palumbo, who was responsible for the building's demolition, had the conical rotunda moved to the garden of his house in Pennsylvania.
Number One Poultry
The Mappin and Webb building was replaced in 1997 by No. 1 Poultry, which is an office and retail building. The new building is in a postmodernist style with an outer shell of bands of rose-pink stone.
The structure is considered by some to be one of the greatest masterpieces of the postmodernist style in London.
However the positive view of the replacement building is far from universal. Amongst the readers of Time Out magazine, it was voted the fifth worst building in London. HRH Prince Charles described it as “A 1930’s wireless set”, and the turret above the building is sometimes likened to a submarine conning tower.
No. 1 Poultry, commissioned by Lord Palumbo, was granted Grade II* Listed Building status in November 2016 – the youngest building to be granted this protection. In pursuing the Listing, in order to prevent proposed “improvements” to his legacy building, deep ironies were unearthed – Palumbo had demolished six listed buildings to get his 1998 building constructed. Gavin Stamp commented:
'The fact that the likes of Zaha Hadid and M’Lord
Rogers are campaigning for it only strengthens my
opinion. Peter Palumbo has always managed to
secure allies.
It is, of course, ironic that, having destroyed a valuable concentration of mid-Victorian commercial buildings,
some listed, he should now be clamouring for
protection for his baby. The man has no real
architectural judgement or taste. He remains merely
interested in celebrity.
Having, with many others, fought two public inquiries
in the 1980's to defeat Palumbo’s arrogant proposals,
only to find successive victories turned into defeats
owing to suspect political interference by ministers
in Mrs Thatcher’s government, I really couldn’t care
a damn what happens to No.1 Poultry. I just wish the
jolly Gothic building by J & J Belcher still stood on
the site.
It was an object lesson in how to treat an acute
corner which was not heeded by the architect of its
wretched successor.'
The Discovery of the Drain
While construction was underway, an archaeological dig was undertaken by the Museum of London. This excavation made several significant discoveries, including a wooden drain along the main Roman road. Using dendrochronology, this was dated to the year AD 47, suggesting that this may be the date of the founding of Roman Londinium.
Suicides
The rooftop terrace at No. 1 Poultry has gained notoriety as the place where a number of people have committed suicide by jumping to the street below, a fall of around 80 ft.
In recent years, six City workers have jumped from the terrace.
Johnny Ramensky
So what else happened on the day that Auntie Jeannie posted the card?
Well, the 6th. April 1906 marked the birth of Johnny Ramensky.
Born Jonas Ramanauckas in Glenboig, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, Johnny Ramensky MM, also known as John Ramsay, Gentleman Johnny, and Gentle Johnny, was a Scottish career criminal who used his safe-cracking abilities as a commando during the Second World War.
A popular song about him, "The Ballad of Johnny Ramensky", was written in 1959 by Norman Buchan, later to become a Labour Party member of parliament, and recorded by singer Enoch Kent, Buchan's brother-in-law.
Though a career criminal, Ramensky received the nickname "Gentle Johnny" as he never used violence when being apprehended by the police.
Johnny Ramensky - The Early Years
Johnny was the son of Lithuanian immigrant parents. His father died when Ramensky was about eight and the remaining family moved to the Gorbals, in the south side of Glasgow.
In Glasgow, he attended Rutherglen Academy, and by eleven he had begun committing crimes. Eventually, he was sent to Polmont Borstal, spending three years there.
Johnny initially worked down the coal mines, similar to his father who had been a clay miner, and it was there he became familiar with the uses of dynamite.
Johnny Ramensky's Criminal Career
Throughout his life, Ramensky demonstrated great strength and gymnastics skills which he used in a career as a burglar, followed by graduating to safe-cracking, also known in the underworld as a Peterman.
During his criminal career, Ramensky maintained that he never targeted individuals' houses, but only businesses, and he became known for never resorting to violence despite being arrested numerous times, resulting in the nickname "Gentleman (or Gentle) Johnny".
Detective Superintendent Robert Colquhoun, one of his old adversaries, when taken ill, was sent a message by Ramensky wishing him a speedy recovery, suggesting he had been working too hard in pursuing him.
In October 1931, Ramensky married Margaret McManus and appears to have stayed out of trouble until March 1934 when he was sentenced to five years at HM Prison Peterhead.
Margaret died in 1934 and, after being denied parole to attend her funeral, Ramensky made his first escape on the 4th. November 1934. His escape, the first ever from Peterhead Prison, was short lived. He was caught 28 hours after his escape.
After being returned to prison he was placed in solitary confinement and shackled. Later in 1934, Labour MP for Glasgow Shettleston, John McGovern, brought up the shackling issue with the Secretary of State for Scotland. In December 1934, Ramensky was released from his shackles, making him the last man to be shackled in a Scottish prison cell.
Johnny Ramensky's Military Career
Ramensky was released after serving a sentence in Peterhead Prison on the 8th. October 1942. During his time there, he had written to officials seeking references to join the army.
Due to the intervention of a senior police officer from Aberdeen, he had attracted the interest of Robert Laycock who was seeking people with skills which could be used in commando raiding forces.
As a result, he was enlisted with the Royal Fusiliers in January 1943, and transferred immediately to the Commandos, where he was trained as a soldier whilst also instructing on the use of explosives. Although being officially enlisted with the Royal Fusiliers, he never actually served with them, spending his entire wartime service with the No. 30 Commando.
Ramensky, using his safe-blowing skills, performed sabotage missions, being parachuted behind enemy lines to retrieve documents from Axis headquarters. This culminated during the Italian campaign, where 14 embassy strong boxes or safes were opened in a single day.
Johnny's exploits may have been exaggerated, as they include obtaining documents from Erwin Rommel's headquarters in North Africa and items from Carinhall, the country home of Hermann Göring in the Schorfheide-Chorin Reserve.
However, the raid on Rommel's headquarters occurred in 1941 while Ramensky was still in prison, and Carinhall's treasures were removed before the home was destroyed by a Luftwaffe demolition squad, on Göring's orders, while Ramensky was in Italy.
Johnny remained in the army after the war as a translator for the allied forces who were repatriating approximately 70,000 Lithuanians from camps in the Lübeck area. Following this, he had a short spell as an officer's batman before being demobbed in 1946.
Johnny Ramensky - The Later Years and Death
Despite his war service and being awarded the Military Medal, Johnny did not give up his safe-cracking lifestyle, and spent the time after the war in and out of jail, including HM Prison Barlinnie and Saughton Prison.
In 1955, he married to Lily Mulholland.
He was later sentenced to a year in Perth Prison, after being caught on a shop roof in Ayr.
After suffering a stroke Johnny died at the age of 66 on the 4th. November 1972 in Perth Royal Infirmary.
Hidden Loot
Ramensky's 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 plunder during the Allied march on Rome in 1944.
Johnny also said that this hoard was later kept at the Shepton Mallet military prison in Somerset, and at the Royal Navy supply depot at Carfin, Lanarkshire, after the war.
He claimed that the hoard contained portraits of Hitler, Eva Braun, Göring, Goebbels and Himmler, and a treasure trove of jewellery and gold.
