Russell Hughes

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

Articles by Russell Hughes:

RAF: The Tragic Sinking of the SS Cap Arcona, 5,000 Concentration Camp Prisoners Killed

The end of WWII was only days away, yet the RAF carried out the Nazis dirty work for them during the Cap Arcona disaster. Docked…

The Story of Big Week: The Plan to Cripple the Luftwaffe, Some Say it Was a Waste of Men & Machines

In 1944 the United States Strategic Air Forces decided they had to do something about the German Luftwaffe. What they did became known as Big…

The Heinkel He 177 Flaming Coffin, The German Heavy Dive Bomber The Luftwaffe Hated

The Heinkel He 177 Greif (Griffin) was an aircraft doomed from the start of its inception. Its design was intrinsically flawed, its engines frequently caught…

Sad – Operation Tractable: When 150 Allied Soldiers Were Bombed By Their Own Planes

Operation Tractable was a major Canadian offensive in Normandy. It was designed to break through the German line to reach the important town of Falaise. While…

Operation Barbarossa: The Invasion Hitler Could Never Win

“Rule one, on page one of the ‘Book of War’ is Do not March on Moscow!” – Bernard Law Montgomery Russia has been the graveyard…

I hear you have captured the whole German army “No sir, only 132”

Sergeant Alvin York was seemingly born to a hardscrabble existence and anonymity in death, but World War One changed that forever. The story of York is…

Singing Waltzing Matilda, This Lieutenant Colonel Took Out 2 Machine Gun Posts With A Pistol & Grenades

Charles Anderson was a truly remarkable person. Not only did he serve and live through two world wars, but he also collected medals for bravery…

A Fatal Failing Of Intelligent Leadership in the Vietnam War – The Battle Of Lima Site 85

There is a remote mountaintop in north-eastern Laos called Phou Phathi, and the locals said it was a place where phi, or spirits, lived. By…

Hans-Ulrich Rudel – The Flying Tank Buster Who Flew More Than 2,000 Missions And Killed Over 500 Tanks

Hans-Ulrich Rudel was shot down 30 times during his 2,530 missions. He destroyed one battleship, one cruiser, one destroyer, 70 landing craft, 800 vehicles, 150…

Roland Freisler – Hitler’s Screaming Nazi Judge

Nazi Germany perverted every democratic institution that was supposed to uphold the rule of law and ensure the people of Europe’s most powerful nation were…

The Laconia Incident: How Friendly Fire Changed POW Treatment for the Rest of the War

The Laconia Incident changed the way Germany treated prisoners of war and was even brought up at the Nuremberg Trials. However, the American prosecutors were…

The Tragedy of Lieutenant General Lesley McNair: The Highest Ranking US Soldier Killed in WWII

Lieutenant General Lesley McNair never had the historical reputation he deserved. He never got to sit down in a comfortable chair, brandy at his elbow,…