mushroomman:
Hi Sandway, as far as I remember I am sure that I saw Nick, alias Ned Kelly driving for Duncan Macree, Taffy Davies and A. Line, who was I think Audrey Davies, Taffies ex wife. Maybe M.and C. Jamie can remember Ned better than me. Two incidents about Ned sprang to mind when you mentioned his name the other day, one was when I met him once in The Mocamp in the air conditioned reception. I did write about it on here, I think I mentioned it on the Astran Thread many years ago and if you put in a search American Girl or Chapel Hat Pegs something may come up.
The other story is one that Ned himself told me so as regards to it being true you will have to make your own mind up but if you ever met Ned then you could well believe it.
Ned told me that he had left Aachen Nord, the West German border with Holland on his way to Zeebrugge. If you remember there was a stretch of Dutch motorway for about ten miles before you entered Belgium where there was no border post. Ned was clogging it along when all of a sudden a Dutch Police Force Porsche appeared from nowhere and pulled in front of him. Ned dropped his speed down but he said he knew that they had got him and just before the next layby the blue lights came on and one of the cops pointed into the layby. Ned followed them in and climbed down from his cab and he explained to me that this Porsche was a two seater open top and both the cops were wearing crash helmets. He said that both the cops were really nice guys, they asked him where he had been and sounded really interested in his trip to the Middle East. Ned started asking them questions about the Porsche and how fast it could go and one cop replied just a bit faster than you. Ned said, he thought that they had been too nice and was expecting to get a ticket when one cop said do you want a ride. He thought that they meant to the cop shop but he said where too and one cop said “oh back to the border post and then back here”. Nick said O.K. then and after putting on the crash helmet he got into the car and they sped off. The cop floored it and they were back at the layby within ten minutes.
Now I have always had my doubts about this but Ned was adamant that this story was true so I have always wondered that if it was true then he might of mentioned it to somebody else. So did anybody ever hear about this before, Ned Kelly and the Dutch Police car. 
Mushroomman. I bow to your superior memory of times gone by especially of names either of people or places. I only met Ned Kelly once, albeit spread over the three and a half days we spent together on board the ferry homeward bound from Tartous. I can’t remember any of his little anecdotes or wild but perhaps true stories. However, I always thought our John Preece was one of the biggest Bull Sitters around. It was great to listen to John. He was a great comedian and loved telling his Bruce and Sheila Australian jokes. The corney one being; Hello Sheila, do you fancy a f—. Oh I see, well, do you mind laying down while I have one then. I also remember some of Johns stories but were they true or were they false.
He once told me of a trip he did to Athens with a lifeboat for a ship docked there. When he arrived the ship had sailed. John and his lorry were put on another ship and they followed the first one round a number of islands till they caught it up. Think this ones true.
That he was a partner in Seymours Transport, Maidstone when Peter Carroll and Hugh Thompson first started it up. Hugh Thompson went on to own Astran later. Think perhaps John worked for them in their early days.
He was empty and driving through Transylvania Romania late one evening when he slid off the road and down a bank ending up at a forty degree angle. He had to sit there all night until next morning when he walked to a farm for help. The farm provided a big farm tractor and labour who got John out and on his way. This was almost certainly true.
One weekend he was in Cluses in the Alps. He went out in the evening for a meal and a drink with some other drivers in someone else’s unit. He decided to walk back to his lorry but got arrested and thrown in jail for the night for being a bit tipsy. This was true cos he got me arrested as well. That story will need to be told sometime.
He loaded out of an exhibition venue in Istanbul one full load of stand fitting material which had originally gone down on three trailers. The remainder of the material, mainly wood, cloth and other disposable items were given to the Turkish Red Crescent. All the items where on ATA Carnets. When the customs found the goods missing they kept him there for three weeks till it was sorted. He then went up to Kapic where he had the same problem. He was there another three weeks. The company flew him home as it was Christmas but it was one long job that one. This story was true.
He told me he once tried to drive a thousand miles in a twenty four hour period. It was up the tapline in Saudi. He just failed. Yes, I think thats true.
And lastly, for now, he once told me he was in Baghdad for the fair where he fought three rounds with the Iraqi boxing champion putting him on his back and humiliating him!!! Now John didn’t know but I had proof he was telling porkies here. If you look at the attached photo you can see clearly who ended up on their back. This story was definitely false.
