Shahan Russell

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

Articles by Shahan Russell:

The Fearless Young Belgian Woman Who Rescued Downed Allied Pilots From Behind Enemy Lines In WW2

In WWII a beautiful, young woman is caught red-handed. Her crime? Helping downed Allied pilots escape Nazi-occupied Europe. How does she get away with it?…

Amazing Story From WW2 – The Dutch Concentration Camp Survivor Who Saved Lives And Forgave Her Captors

During WWII, the Nazis chucked her, together with her entire family, into a concentration camp. After the war, and despite losing relatives, she set up…

Awesome Englishwoman Flora Sandes Fought In The Serbian Infantry In World War 1

Flora Sandes was born on January 22, 1876, in Nether Poppleton, Yorkshire, England to a pastor. Fortunately, he was a liberal man, as Flora often…

The Only Woman Ever To Join The French Foreign Legion Served In World War Two And Vietnam

The Légion Étrangère is better known as the French Foreign Legion – a military organization open to men who are foreign nationals. In 1945, however,…

The Female Allied Spy Who Received A German Iron Cross Medal In The First World War

During WWI, the German government condemned a woman to death for spying on them. Fortunately for her, they commuted her sentence when they realized they…

These Two Humanitarians Worked Hard To Help The Allies At The Start Of WW1 – They Were Almost Executed

She was sentenced to death by the Germans in WWI for helping the Allied cause but was spared by the German Emperor and the Pope.…

Medal Of Honor: This Heroic Airman Burned To Save His Crew From 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,…

The Tragic Shooting Down Of An Iranian Passenger Jet In 1988, And The Far-Reaching Consequences

In 1988, a US warship shot down an Iranian commercial plane, killing all onboard. The American captain and his crew were hailed as heroes, Scotland…

He Parachuted Out Of His Crippled B-24 Then Killed The Enemy Pilot With A Head Shot From A Pistol

The following story may or may not be true, but the US Army Air Force (USAAF) believes it is. It is about a man who…

Awarded The Medal Of Honor For Single-Handedly Fighting Off Two Huge Waves Of The Enemy In Vietnam

The Medal of Honor is America’s highest military award given to US citizens for acts of valor. Even if those recipients were high on Marijuana when…

The Largest Wingspan Of Any Aircraft In History – The Colossal H-4 Hercules

It is the biggest plane ever built – standing more than five stories tall, with a wingspan longer than a football field. Able to carry…

After Pearl Harbor, A Japanese Pilot Crash-Landed On A Hawaiian Island And Tried to Occupy It

In 1941, a lone Japanese pilot tried to capture the Hawaiian island of Ni’ihau. The natives responded by holding a luau for him. Though part…