The poem is English translation of Konstantin Simonov's "Zhdi menya" (Wait for me). Written in summer 1941 after the author visited front lines near Mogilev. One of the most famous and "iconic" poems in Soviet literature. And really good one.
A movie under the same name was made in 1943:
(note mock-up SB bomber, min 11 to 13)
Ironically, Simonov was one of those young authors who waited for new world war impatiently and dreamed about it.
From his early poem "Odnopolchane" (Brothers in Arms), 1938:
At the dawn, near Koenigsberg
Both us will be wounded
We'll spend one month in a hospital
To survive and to go to the battle again
Koenisgberg was German at that time, of course. And there was no Soviet-German border yet.
Real war appeared to be very different. Simonov was shocked by what he saw in 1941. Later on he wrote excellent books partly based on his war diaries. One of them, "Zhivye i mertvye" (The Dead and the Alive") included air battle episode witnessed by Simonov in June 1941: 8 Soviet bombers shot down by Me 109s, 6 of them in 10 minutes. The book did not include another incident happened at the same place: political officer who accompanied Simonov has shot dead 14 year old local boy. Grave mistake - the officer thought he saw a German pilot running in the field.
The movie under the same name was released in 1964. Episode with the bombers:
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Topic: Wait for me - Pacific war cinematic *MUST WATCH* (Read 2815 times)
