Just Nuisance

Just Nuisance, along with Jock of the Bushveld, are probably the two most famous dogs in South Africa.  Nuisance, a Great Dane, was born in 1937 and as his owner worked at the naval base he started hanging out with the sailors.  Nuisance roamed around freely and began to take day trips by train with the sailors, going as far afield as Cape Town.  Although the seamen tried hiding him the conductors would find him and put him off the trains.  The railway company eventually warned that Nuisance would have to be put down unless he was prevented from boarding the trains.  This news came as a shock and the the Navy decided to officially enlist him which meant that as a member of the armed forces he would be allowed on the trains AND receive free rail travel. He was enlisted on 25 August 1939.  His surname was entered as "Nuisance" and rather than leaving the forename blank he was christened "Just".  His trade in the navy was listed as "Bonecrusher".  Just Nuisance died in 1944 and was buried with full military honours and a monument was erected in Jubilee Square in Simon's Town.  Read the whole story of Just Nuisance, the only dog ever to be officially enlisted in the Royal Navy, on Wikipedia.