Massey Spence grew up in Nightcaps and was working for the Post and Telegraph Department as Postmaster at Te Akau when he enlisted in the army in 1940.
In August 3, 1942, his name appears on a list of missing men of the 23rd Infantry Battalion and his "Online Cenotaph" page lists him as being captured on July 15, 1942 and, using Italian records, places him in Gruppignano POW camp at Udine, Italy and then at Torviscosa in the same area.
July 15 is the date of the Kiwis' attack on Ruweisat Ridge - a successful night attack on enemy positions which was unsupported by British armoured forces and then beaten by German armoured forces. It can be assumed that Massey Spence was one of the prisoners taken that day.
After his time in an Italian POW camp, Massey Spence seems to disappear from any any record available online. He has no known resting place. His death was officially presumed in 1948.
So what happened to Massey Spence? It is known that, after the Italian surrender in 1943, despite being ordered to stay put, many Allied POWs set out to travel to freedom, ahead of the action taken by German forces to secure the country. Many found the safety of Allied lines or neutral Switzerland. A number joined Italian partisan forces and fought with them. One possibility is that Massey died by accident or misfortune while passing through Italy. His "Online Cenotaph" record records him dying on 2/11/1945 but has no further details.
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