Ghostly Monday - Able Seaman Just Nuisance R.N.

Welcome to Ghostly Mondays!

Argh! Isn't Monday the day of the week we all love to hate? I thought we could liven it up with a couple of real ghost stories and I hope you will enjoy this one as much as I have.

One 'person' who should be haunting Simon's Town, but who by all accounts aren't, is Able Seaman Just Nuisance, R.N.
This is a great story I stumbled across while looking for Simon's Town's resident ghosts. I wouldn't mind bumping into this fellow on a dark and stormy night!
Born on April's Fool Day 1937 in Rondebosch, Cape Town, this Great Dane pup was sold to Benjamin Chaney, who moved to Simon's Town to run the United Services Institute.  It was in Simon's Town where this large dog became a legend.
It was a dog's life - the sailors on the base at Simon's Town fed him all sorts - beer, pies, etc - and took him for walks. He was a friendly dog and was loved by everyone. He started to follow the sailors aroundthe base and the docks and eventually onto the ships themselves - HMS Neptune was to become his favorite vessel. Only thing was, he chose his spot to lie down at the top of the gangplank, making boarding the vessel difficult, illisiting 'You're just a nuisance!' from the sailors.

He regularly followed the off-duty seamen on their jaunts to Cape Town, 22miles and 27 stations north of Simon's Town. But he knew exactly where he was going. The conductor was not simpathetic and put the dog off at the next station, if discovered. Undeterred, the dog would just board the next train. Sometimes people even offered to pay his fare, but a stream of complaints was sent to Mr Chaney, demanding that he controlled his dog's movements. It was only when the railway threatened to have the dog put down that, due to the massive outcry from the sailors and other people who have come to know Just Nuisance, that the Commander-in-Chief decided to enlist him into the Royal Navy, making him one of the world's most famous dogs.
He was enlisted on August 25th, 1939, his first name became 'Just', his trade 'Bone Crusher' and his religion 'Scrounger', later upgraded to Canine Divinity League - Anti-vivisection, for the rations. His duties seemed to have been self-imposed. He didn't like his friends to squabble and he made sure the got home to barracks after a night in the pub.
Just Nuisance was more than just a dog. He did much for the morale of the sailors in the Second World War, but he was no angel. His wrap sheet is long and distinguished, including offences like going AWOL, travelling on the trains without his free pass, sleeping in the petty officer's bed and refusing to leave a pub at closing time.

Niusance was involved in a traffic accident on January 1, 1944 which left him with thrombosis which slowly paralized him and on April 1, 1944, 7 years after he was born, he was put to sleep at the Somon's Town Naval Hospital. The next day he was buried with full military honors on top of Red Hill that included a gun salute and a lone bugle's rendition of The Last Post.

RIP Just Nuisance.

He is not forgotten, though. His legend lives on at the Simon's Town Museum, where his official papers, his collar and many photos of him is on display. They even run a look-alike competition yearly, ensuring that the legend of Able Seaman Just Nuisance R.N. continue for a few years to come.

Isn't that a nice story? Do you have one about another famour/brave-beyond-the-call-of-duty animal? Care to share it? Feel free to post your story right here on Maggie's Post.