Strange cargo, 1 human specimen - "Treat as one of your own"

My family was in the haulage business in the 1970's. We had a contract with a Bermondsey firm to deliver goods all over Merseyside. The London articulated lorry would arrive at 6 am and we would unload it onto our smaller lorries.
One morning the unloading was disrupted. One of our drivers had spotted a crate with the label "1 human specimen", destination Ireland (via Collingwood dock). The initial reaction was disbelief and laughter. The crate was stacked under a consignment of cheese power and assorted other crates.
The boss (my mam) went ballistic. She rang up the Bemondsey firm at 8am ( their office hours) and gave them down the banks, mainly wanting to know what was in the crate. The phone lines were hot, and a couple of hours later the mystery was solved. Bermondsey had been duped into relaying the crate by another firm. The crate contained a dead man returning from Australia to his Irish homeland. The story has many twists and turns, but I'll get to the ending.
My mam put the triplicate consignment sheet for the crate into her Olivetti typewriter and typed boldly;-

TREAT AS ONE OF YOUR OWN

My brother, Les, was given the task of delivering the crate to Collingwood dock, his lorry being made as tidy as possible. His arrival at the dock carrying a solitary crate was already expected. A cortege of dockers helped unload the crate and escort it on board the ship.
Hopefully the Irishman's journey ended peacefully, RIP.
What happened to the cheese powder? Well, that's a story for another day.
Regards,
Chas:PDT11


PART 2 A tale of cheese powder in the 1970's summer heat

For I'll tak the high road
and you tak the low road
neither, our duty shall shirk
but I don't envy you the paper-work. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Oudeis

For I'll tak the high road
and you tak the low road
neither, our duty shall shirk
but I don't envy you the paper-work. ;)

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How the guy's body was transported from Australia to London then Liverpool is still a mystery me. One small consolation, the dock checker gave us a clean receipt!:002:

Bet he was a dead weight,then!:slywink:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chasevans

My family was in the haulage business in the 1970's. We had a contract with a Bermondsey firm to deliver goods all over Merseyside. The London articulated lorry would arrive at 6 am and we would unload it onto our smaller lorries.
One morning the unloading was disrupted. One of our drivers had spotted a crate with the label "1 human specimen", destination Ireland (via Collingwood dock). The initial reaction was disbelief and laughter. The crate was stacked under a consignment of cheese power and assorted other crates.
The boss (my mam) went ballistic. She rang up the Bemondsey firm at 8am ( their office hours) and gave them down the banks, mainly wanting to know what was in the crate. The phone lines were hot, and a couple of hours later the mystery was solved. Bermondsey had been duped into relaying the crate by another firm. The crate contained a dead man returning from Australia to his Irish homeland. The story has many twists and turns, but I'll get to the ending.
My mam put the triplicate consignment sheet for the crate into her Olivetti typewriter and typed boldly;-

TREAT AS ONE OF YOUR OWN

My brother, Les, was given the task of delivering the crate to Collingwood dock, his lorry being made as tidy as possible. His arrival at the dock carrying a solitary crate was already expected. A cortege of dockers helped unload the crate and escort it on board the ship. Hopefully the Irishman's journey ended peacefully, RIP.What happened to the cheese powder? Well, that's a story for another day.
Regards,
Chas:PDT11

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Good one Chas.
Olivetti - now there's a blast from the past. It vanished like cheese powder.

Ta John,
I will tell the cheese powder story later, it deserves telling. Hope you're not queasy, it's the gritz, the double gritz!
Cheers,
Chas:PDT11