Just Nuisance was a Great Dane who was born on the 1^st of Aril in 1937 in a suburb on the south peninsula known as Rondebosch. He was then sold to his owner, Benjamin Chaney who moved to Simons Town due to his work in the United Services Institute (USI). The USI had many sailors in them as Simons Town was run by the Royal Navy. https://www.facebook.com/Simons-Town-Museum-69123747215

Just Nuisance received his name because he would like to lay on the vessels, such as the HMS Neptune, and he was hard to move. The sailors became acquainted with Just Nuisance and would feed him treats such as pies and beer and Just Nuisance took a liking to them. They would take him for walks and errands they had to do ashore which meant they had to take the train.  He would recognise his many sailor friends by the clothing they were wearing, the bell bottom jeans and square blue collars as they all looked the same to him, so he had many friends. He would often escort drunk sailor men home from the trains, even though some of them may not have been stationed at Simons Town.

Just Nuisance became well known for using the train system. Often his sailor friends would try to hide him from the ticket collector, which is impossible as Great Danes are big, and he would be put off at the next station. He was clever enough to know to just wait for the next train and hop on it and he always knew which station he was at and which one he had to get off on. Often passengers would pay for his fare and many times he had scuffles with the ticket collector as he would get on his hind legs which led to the railway officials sending demand letters to his owner. These letters instructed his owner to either confine the dog, pay his fare or they would put him down. This enraged many of his sailor friends and community members that knew him. The Royal Navy stepped in as they had received many letters about the dog, and on the 25^th of August 1939 they enlisted Just Nuisance into the Royal Navy at HMS Afrikander. This not only saved his life but had risen his social status within the community, because as a volunteer during the war, he was entitled to many free train rides.

 

While he was being enlisted, they gave him the surname of Nuisance and not wanting to leave the forename blank they wrote Just. His trade was Bone Crusher, and his religious denomination was scrounger. He went through medicals just as all sailors had to, which he passed with flying colours, he signed all his official documents with his paw print. This gave him more benefits, such as being able to sleep on the sailor’s bed, a seaman was assigned to him to make sure that he was washed and ready as he had to take part in Royal Navy parades, and he wore his seaman’s hat. When he saw his sailor friends fighting, he would often get on his hind legs and push them on their chests with is big paws.

 

He was promoted from ordinary seaman to able seaman, and he had an arranged marriage to Adinda, another Great Dane, which resulted in 5 puppies. Two of the puppies were auctioned by the mayor of Cape Town for War funds. Just Nuisance was a dog that boosted the morale of the sailors, but he had many misconducts too. Some of his misconducts were, losing his collar and resisting eviction from the pub after closing hours. These documents can be found in the Simons Town Museum.

 

He was discharged from the Navy on Monday the 1^st of January 1944, after a motor accident had left him with Thrombosis which was paralysing him. The veterinary surgeon recommended that he be put down. On the 1^st of April 1994 he was taken on his last ride by lorry to the naval hospital where he was put down. The next day his body was wrapped with Royal Navy ensign and was laid to rest with full military honours at Klaver camp on top of Redhill. A granite Gravestone which marks his grave can still be found there today as well as a statue of him on Jubilee Square Simons Town