I will not tell you

David Russell was one of the bravest men to ever fight for New Zealand and he is barely remembered.
It was only after his extraordinary bravery and death that he was recognised with the George Cross - for acts of heroism in the face of extreme danger- because David was shot as a spy by German Forces during the Second World War.
David was born March 30, 1911, in Ayr, Scotland to James and Jessie Russell. He headed for Australia with his elder brother. And for years he lived on the swag, moving from place to place and turning his hand to anything.
He and a mate heard of great opportunities in New Zealand and came to Wellington, immediately hopping the train to Napier where David began work at the Napier Hospital as an orderly.
He wasn’t there long, war broke out and 11 days after it did in 1939, David had enlisted (after a brief standdown to get some varicose veins dealt with).
In May 1940 he was shipped out and after a training stop in Scotland was sent to Egypt. He served through campaigns in Greece and Crete, saving a buddy’s life during a retreat when his mate was weakened by dysentery. He refused to leave him, carrying and dragging him to safety.
He served at the New Zealand School of Instruction in Egypt and was promoted to Lance Corporal.
David was taken prisoner in 1942 and transferred to a camp in Italy. He escaped in 1943 and began moving about, helping others get away. In 1944 he contacted a British team and could have left. Instead he chose to return to find and assist other escaped prisoners.
He was a master of eluding patrols, often riding away on a bicycle.
With Arch Scott - another Kiwi - he began working on a plan to organise escapes but ended up captured again before yet another daring escape.
It wasn’t long before he was again taken prisoner, and this time taken to the German commander in the area, Oberleutenant Haupt, who believed him a spy and resistor.
Haupt brutally beat David for information, chained him to a wall in a stable, beat him again, left him without food or water and even brought in people to persuade him to talk. He said he would not tell them and let them shoot me.
He never did talk. It was likely David knew the names of many involved in plans to help prisoners, including the locals who were helping him.
On February 28, 1945, they took him to the garden, let him have a cigarette before he stood rigidly to attention and they shot him.
He was the first New Zealander (he served with our forces) to be awarded - posthumously - the George Cross.
The locals took the body and buried him at the Ponte de Piave cemetery. Much later a memorial was put up for him.
In 1949, Napier hospital named a ward after him and a plaque for many years was on the wall. When the hospital closed it was stored but has now been restored and put up in a special area for the history of the hospital service in HB at the chapel at the hospital in Hastings. The chapel is currently closed to the public.
His George Cross had been at the Waiouru War memorial and was among a group stolen in 2007. It was recovered months later with many others.
In 1950 , David was exhumed and his body reburied at the Imperial War Graves cemetery in Udine, Italy.