Great Victory -

65

This year our country celebrates the greatest holiday – 65th anniversary of Great Patriotic War. That was an example of great heroism of Russian people. Millions people gave their lives for our people in that war. It was very difficult but people showed inhuman heroism. You now, that even women and children took part there.

WOMEN AT WAR

The Soviet Union was the only country in the world where women not only took care of fields and factories but also fought shoulder to shoulder with men as front line soldiers. It was also the only country where women could become fighter pilots. In 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Major Marina Raskova , a famous Soviet pilot , went to Stalin to convince him to set up three women s fighter and a special training centre for women was set up in Engels , a small town not far from Stalingrad .

All the girls were volunteers and most of them were about 20 years old.

THE ‘NIGHT WITCHES’:

Soviet women pilots

THE HEROES WITH NO LEGS

What do Briton Douglas Bader and Russian

Aleksei Maresyev have in common?The answer is simple: both were Second World

War heroes who fought… without legs.

Bader’s career as a pilot was going extremely well. Then the tragedy struck. Douglas crashed while performing a complex aerobatic display. Although he was lucky to survive, he lost both legs. But Douglas insisted: ‘They’ll have to call me up.

Bader was given a second chance. He learnt to fly with prosthetic legs. By 1941, he had shot down 23 German planes – the fifth highest hit record in the Royal Air Force at the time.

After the war, Douglas dedicated his life to helping charities for the disabled. When the Nazis invaded Russia in 1941, Maresyev was sent to the front to serve as a

fighter pilot. By April 1942, Maresyev had shot down 4 German plans. However, on the 4th of April Maresyev’s luck ran out. But he was shot down and had to make an emergence landing. He tried to land on a frozen lake but lost control of the plane and crashed over a forest. Badly injured, he crawled on his hands for eighteen days and nights to reach the Russian frontlines. By that time, his legs had become badly frostbitten and had to be amputated.

But Maresyev refused to give up. After a long and painful struggle he learnt now to fly with prosthetic legs. In 1943, he became a squadron leader. During one mission Maresyev shot down 3 enemy planes.

In August 1943, Aleksey Maresyev was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal. But Maresyev didn’t like the title of a living legend. “I’m a man, not a legend, “ he said.

“There is nothing special in what I did.”

STALINGRAD REMEMBERED

Stalingrad is probably best remembered as the place where the Nazi expansion into Europe came up against Russian heroic defense. For Russian people, it is one of their proudest episodes, one of their best military operations of the War.

Wait for me, and I’ll come back.

This poem is probably one of the most famous war poems ever written. Konstantin Simonov wrote it at the worst period of the war. The German army was just 30 kilometers from Moscow, Leningrad was under, three million soldiers had been taken prisoner. The situation looked hopeless…

To Valentina Serova

Wait for me, and I’ll come back!Wait with all you’ve got!Wait, when dreary yellow rainsTell you, you should not.Wait when snow is falling fast,Wait when summer’s hot,Wait when yesterdays are past,Others are for got.Wait, when from that far-off place,Letters don’t arrive.Wait, when those with whom you wait Doubt if I’m alive.

Wait for me, and I’ll come back!Wait in patience yetWhen they tell you off by heartThat you should forget.Even when my dearest ones Say that I am lost,Even when my friends give up,Sit and count the cost,Drink a glass of bitter wine To the fallen friend – Wait! And do not drink with them!Wait until the end!

Wait for me and I'll come back,Dodging every fate!“What a bit of luck!” they’ll say,Those that did not wait.They will never understandHow amidst the strife,By your waiting for me, dear,You had saved my life.How I made it, we shall know,Only you and I.You alone knew how to wait –We alone know why!

ЖДИ МЕНЯ

Жди меня, и я вернусь.Только очень жди,Жди, когда наводят грустьЖелтые дожди,Жди, когда снега метут,Жди, когда жара,Жди, когда других не ждут,Позабыв вчера.Жди, когда из дальних мест Писем не придет,Жди, когда уж надоест Всем, кто вместе ждет.

Жди меня, и я вернусь,Не желай добраВсем, кто знает наизусть,Что забыть пора.Пусть поверят сын и матьВ то, что нет меня,Пусть друзья устанут ждать,Сядут у огня,Выпьют горькое вино На помин души…Жди. И с ними заодноВыпить не спеши.

Жди меня, и я вернусь,Всем смертям на зло.Кто не ждал меня,Тот пустьСкажет : - Повезло.Не понять, не ждавшим им,Как среди огняОжиданием своимТы спасла меня .Как я выжил, будем знатьТолько мы с тобой, - Просто ты умела ждать,Как никто другой.

The Second World War was the largest military conflict in history. The rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany in the late 1930s brought unimaginable suffering to million of people. Hitler was defeated in 1945 but, without doubt, Russia and the whole of the Soviet Union paid the highest price for the victory.

Strange Dream• People have always dreamed about a world without wars. The Canadian singer, Ed McCurdy, once had

this strange dream. By Ed McCurdyLast night I had the strangest dream,I never dreamed before;I dreamed the world at last agreedTo put an end to war

I dreamed I saw the biggest room,The room was full of men,And papers they were signing said,They’d never fight again!

And when the papers they all sighed, And million copies made,They all joined hands and bowed their headsAnd prayers began to pray.

The people in the streets belowWere dancing round and round,And swords and guns and uniforms,They scattered on the ground.

Last night I had the strangest dream,I never dreamed before;I dreamed the world at last agreedTo put an end to war.