Shahan Russell

Shahan Russell is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE

Articles by Shahan Russell:

Oi Give it Back: How the Soviets Stole an American F-86 Sabre Jet in 1951

During the Korean War (1950 to 1953) America and her allies sided with South Korea, while Russia and China sided with North Korea. Among their…

On Fire This Heroic Airman Picked Up A Burning 1,100° Phosphorus Bomb To Save His Crew Certain Death

The Medal of Honor is America’s highest military award given to those for acts of valor that in some cases border on insanity. In WWII,…

Gabrielle Petit: The WWI Spy Who Refused to Crack Under Interrogation and Threat of Death

British troops sitting in a trench + Portrait of Gabrielle Petit

Some individuals get no breaks in life. What’s more, they sometimes have to die before they receive the recognition they deserve. Take the case of…

Japanese-American Soldiers, The Nisei: The Purple Heart Battalion

When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, Japanese-Americans became enemy aliens and were sent to internment camps. One responded in a most spectacular way. Daniel…

The One-Armed Warrior Who Was Awarded The Victoria Cross

Some soldiers are so pig-headedly persistent that they go down in legend; including one who did so with only one arm. George Albert Cairns was…

How Vietnam War POW Doug Hegdahl Convinced His Captors That he Was Hopelessly Stupid

Imagine that it’s the 1960s. You’re an American POW in a North Vietnamese camp, so you have two options: If you want to live, you…

Japanese Battleship Musashi – Part 2: The Rediscovery

The biggest ship to sail the seas during WWII, she was Japan’s pride and joy (and the bane of captains) till she was lost. It…

How Climate Change Helped the Swedes March Across A Frozen Sea And Defeat The Danes

It all started in 1655 during the Second Northern War. Sweden was fighting against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia, Brandenburg-Prussia, the Habsburg Monarchy, Denmark-Norway, and sometimes,…

Hans von Luck: The Gentlemanly Nazi Commander

War has always been brutal. Sometimes, however, generals try to be civilized. In the midst of battle, they stop, chat with the enemy, and enjoy…

Becoming a Nazi as an agent of Christ. He claimed he joined the Nazi regime to save Jews

A devout Christian, he joined the Nazi regime and then later tried to oppose it. When that did not work, he hatched a new plan…

How A Japanese Sub Sank Three Ships With One Salvo In WW2

Japan entered WWII with the most diverse submarine fleet of any nation. Some subs were capable of the fastest underwater speeds and were armed with…

The Mysterious Death Of Rasputin, The Siberian Monk Who Brought Down The Tsar Of Russia

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was born in 1869 in a remote Siberian village but died in a Russian palace on 30 December 1916. Despite his alleged…