Able Seaman Just Nuisance 

Dear Readers, while we were in Simonstown (close to Cape Town) our guide told us the story of Just Nuisance (1937-1944), the only dog to ever be enlisted in the Royal Navy. Just Nuisance was a Great Dane, who was originally owned by Benjamin Chaney, who worked for the United Services Institute. The dog became a great favourite with the naval ratings, and soon spent a lot of time following them back to their moorings and to the dockyard. His favourite resting place was the gangplank, which earned him his name ‘Just Nuisance’ – stepping over a huge dog who measured over six and a half  feet tall when standing on his back legs was presumably no easy feat.

Then Just Nuisance developed a liking for train travel – he would sometimes ride the train into Cape Town, a distance of 22 miles, in the search for his favourite sailors. The train company used to throw him off the train, but he’d just wait for the next one. I’m not sure what harm he was causing, but the train authorities got very agitated, to the point of threatening to have him euthanised. However, as an enlisted sailor he was entitled to free travel, and so he became ‘Able Seaman Just Nuisance’. His trade was listed as “Bonecrusher” and his religious affiliation as “Scrounger”, although this was later altered to the more charitable “Canine Divinity League (Anti-Vivisection)”.

Our guide told us that if Just Nuisance noticed that a bed in the barracks was empty, he would take the train into town, and look into each pub until he found the missing sailor. He would then ‘accompany’ him home. However, the dog’s service was not without blemish – he once lost a week’s bone ration for sleeping in the Petty Officer’s bed, and he had a great hatred of small dogs, killing several, and once destroying a complete official buffet table full of food in the process.

At one point, Just Nuisance was ‘married’ to another Great Dane, Adelinda, and the ‘couple’ had five puppies, two of which were auctioned off for the war effort.

Alas, in 1944 Just Nuisance developed a thrombosis, and had to be put to sleep. He was buried with full military honours, including a gun salute and the playing of ‘The Last Post’.

Just Nuisance’s Grave (Photo By Andrew massyn – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10116613)

What a remarkable dog, and what an amazing story. There’s a statue of Just Nuisance in the main square in Simonstown to this day. I imagine he brought a lot of fun, amusement and love into the lives of many who served in the Navy during the Second World War. How we love these tales of dogs and their almost-human behaviour! I sometimes think that they remind us of our best selves.

By Danie van der Merwe – https://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=357496321&size=l, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1654784