Harold Simon

I was born in Bultfontein South Africa April 1920, completed my studies for the degrees of Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.), and Chartered Accountant (C.A.) in December 1940, and I joined the South African Air Force (SAAF) in January 1941. All the men and women who served in the South African Defense Forces in World War II were volunteers, as there was no conscription law in South Africa because of the political realities at that time.
I received my training as a navigator-bombardier at Lyttleton (Basic Training School) and at Youngsfield Air Base, and I did my OTU (Operational Training Unit) at Nanyuki in Kenya (at the very foot of Mount Kenya). Our OTU training was done in clapped-out Blenheim bombers, and as the cumulus clouds in the mountainous region where we did our flying used to build up to heights of 10,000 feet plus, the incidence of aircraft prangs (accidents) was enormous.
In June 1942, I was assigned to 21 SAAF Squadron, flying Baltimores (light bombers). 21 Squadron was part of no. 3 Wing (light bombers) which was part of the Desert Air Force (DAF), and we were initially based at various airfields in Egypt. The really serious action commenced in October 1942 with the Battle of El Alamein, which was really the first major turning point in favor of the Allies in World War II. With the relentless attacks on General Rommel’s Afrika Corps by General Montgomery’s Eighth Army and Air Marshall Tedder’s DAF, we kept on forcing the German Army westwards in its retreat from Egypt into Lybia, into Tunisia, and then to Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, from where we prepared for the Allied attacks on the Germans in Italy.
During the North African Campaign, I was seconded together with a number of other South Africans to a Royal Air Force (RAF) Baltimore Squadron, No. 223. I was one of the lead navigator-bombardiers in the squadron, and I completed my first tour of operations in Sicily.
My second tour of operations was in 35 Squadron SAAF Coastal Command, flying Catalina and Sunderland Flying Boats. I did my conversion course on coastal command aircraft in South Africa, and my OTU training in Ireland and Scotland. My squadron operated over the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on submarine hunting, escorting shipping convoys, and naval reconnaissance. The German Army surrendered to the Allied Forces on 8th May, 1945. Just as we were about to move to the Far East for the war against the Japanese. Japan surrendered in August 1945 as a result of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
I was discharged from the SAAF in November ’45. (See Personal Story)