East Africa In August 1940 his battalion joined
9th Indian Infantry Brigade, part of the newly formed
5th Indian Infantry Division and was shipped to the
Sudan. Here he was appointed the division's GSO1 (senior headquarters staff officer), replacing
Frank Messervy who took command of
Gazelle Force which was being formed as a mobile strike force to operate against the Italians along the border with
Eritrea. From October 1940 to August 1941 during the
East African Campaign Colonel Russell continued in this role performing a key function in the campaign fought by 4th and 5th Indian Infantry Division in Eritrea. He negotiated the surrender of the Italian forces commanded by
Amadeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta at
Amba Alagi. For his services in East Africa Russell was awarded the
OBE.
North Africa The 5th Indian Division moved to
Cairo in June 1941 and then
Iraq in August, returning to Egypt in October more or less coincidental with Russell's promotion to
brigadier and assuming command of the
4th Indian Infantry Division's
5th Indian Infantry Brigade, part of
XIII Corps in the newly created
British Eighth Army. On 18 November 1941 Eighth Army launched
Operation Crusader. Initially Russell's brigade, short of transport, was delegated to protect lines of communication. By 26 November it was moving to the front. By mid December the brigade was involved in intense fighting against the armour of
Erwin Rommel's
Afrika Korps at Alem Hamsa where the 1st Battalion,
Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) were destroyed as a fighting unit and were temporarily replaced by 1st Battalion,
6th Rajputana Rifles. In March 1942
4th Indian Division was dispersed and the brigade was sent to
Palestine but hastily summoned back to the western desert after Rommel's breakthrough at the
Battle of Gazala. Initially attached to 5th Indian Division, the brigade was transferred to
10th Indian Infantry Division as it withdrew from Libya to the defensive position at
Mersa Matruh in Egypt. On 28 June the brigade found its line of withdrawal from Metrsa Matruh cut and was forced to break out southwards into the desert in small parties before turning east and reforming behind the defensive position at
El Alamein. For his leadership of the brigade in the period from November 1941 to April 1942 Russell was awarded in September 1942 the
DSO. Having reorganised, the brigade was once more attached to 5th Indian Division and during mid July fought in the battles of Ruweisat Ridge, part of series of engagements now called the
First Battle of El Alamein. The brigade continued to hold positions on or near the Ruweisat Ridge up to November and the
Second Battle of El Alamein. By this time 5th Indian Division had been relieved and the brigade was once more part of 4th Indian Division. For his services between May and October Russell was
mentioned in dispatches. 4th Indian Division's initial role in the second Alamein battle was to make diversionary displays from Ruweisat Ridge while the main offensive went into the north. In early November the
2nd New Zealand Division had made a salient into the
Axis lines and 5th Indian Brigade were attached to the exhausted
51st (Highland) Infantry Division to complete the breakthrough. By dawn on 4 November the brigade had secured its objectives opening the way for the British armour.
Iraq and Syria In January 1943 Russell was appointed
acting major-general and appointed to command
8th Indian Infantry Division in
Iraq. When the German defeat at the
Battle of Stalingrad removed the threat to Iraq and
Persia from the
Caucasus the division was moved to
Syria for training. In June 1943 the division was ordered to seize the island of
Rhodes but the
armistice with Italy forestalled the operation.
Italy In September 1943 the division landed in
Taranto in southern Italy, destined to become engaged for the rest of the war fighting on the
Italian Front. For the next three months the division fought up the eastern side of Italy as part of
Eighth Army's
V Corps, making crossings of the rivers Biferno, Trigno and in late November the Sangro. By mid-December they had
crossed the Moro but
General Sir Bernard Montgomery, the Eighth Army commander, called off offensive operations as deteriorating winter weather and conditions underfoot made further attacks impractical and 8th Indian Division were tasked to hold the front between Orsogna and the
Apennine Mountains. At the beginning of May 1944, 8th Indian Division had been attached to
XIII Corps and switched in secrecy across the Apennines to the mouth of the Liri valley beneath
Monte Cassino for the fourth
Battle of Monte Cassino,
Operation Diadem. 8th Indian and
British 4th Division were given the job to get across the fast-flowing Rapido river and establish bridgeheads. The attack went in on the night of 11 May and by 09.00 the next morning Russell's divisional engineers had erected a
Bailey bridge to allow supporting armour into the bridgehead to repel German armoured counterattacks. By 13 May the Germans fell back and
1st Canadian Infantry Division passed through the
bridgehead to lead the advance. 8th Indian Division now came under
X Corps for a 150-mile advance before being rested at the end of June. In August 1944 Russell was awarded the
CBE. and he was appointed
Companion of the Bath (CB). He was also mentioned in despatches and received the
United States Legion of Merit, Degree of Commander. ==Post war==