Harry recalls tall tale of giraffes in his lorry

When lorry driver Harry Brierley was told to go to West Midland Safari Park for a job, he knew he wouldn't be picking up his usual load.

So when he saw six camels, wildebeests and giraffes waiting for him he took it all in his stride and rounded up the herd. It was in 1976 when Harry teamed up with five other drivers to take the 18 animals from the safari park to Tilbury Docks in Essex.

There the animals were loaded on to a ship and sent to a zoo in Japan. Two women from the safari park also travelled to Japan and now Harry is keen to track them down and find out what happened to the animals.

"As soon as we set off from the safari park drivers were blowing their horns and it didn't stop until we arrived at the docks," says Harry, aged 76, from Aldridge. "I remember driving down the M6 and people were amazed to see camels and giraffes poking their heads out of the containers, we had children waving and people cheering."

Harry started working as a lorry driver when he left the RAF aged 21. He worked for a number of companies over the years including Thornton's in West Bromwich, Hartshorne in Darlaston, British Road Services in West Bromwich and Oldbury, and McKechnie Metals in Aldridge.

But it was while working for P&O Shipping that he was given the task of getting the wildlife on to the sea. "I enjoyed working for P&O and stayed with them until I retired in 1999," says Harry, who is married to wife Margaret.

"They had two bases, one at Bentley Mill in Walsall and another at Nechells, Birmingham. I was used to carrying loads such as electrical goods, money, spirits and tinned food – but never wildlife, until that day."

Harry says he was used to picking up items from the dock and delivering them to warehouses nationwide. But this time his pick-up was in the West Midlands and he would also be expected to help feed his load.

"The crates that we carried them in had to be built-up so they were high enough to protect the giraffes," says Harry, who was known in lorry driving circles as Jersey Joe, due to the fact he has been to Jersey 88 times. "The containers were put on the back of the lorries and then the animals were led into them. I knew I was going to the safari park to pick up some animals but nothing really prepares you for seeing three giraffes walk on to the back of your lorry."

Harry says he was working with five other local lorry drivers – Sammy Brotherton, Mickey Edwards, Alan Wilkes, Frankie Cadman and a man known only as John The Dutchman. "There were two girls from the safari park travelling with us and it would be great to know what has happened to them, as well as the animals," he said.

"When we arrived at Southend we stopped for a tea break and when people pulled up into the services they just couldn't believe their eyes when they saw our lorries." He added: "I made sure I got as many pictures as possible of this unusual trip as I knew the chances of me carrying another load like this again were very slim."