Harold “Smoky” Simon was born in South Africa in 1920 (age 99).  After graduating with the degrees of Bachelor of Commerce and Chartered Accountant, he volunteered in 1941 to join the South African Air Force (SAAF) in the war against Nazi Germany. He was trained as a navigator-bombardier and served for five years in various theatres of World War II.

In 1948, Smoky and his wife Myra (who was trained and served as a meteorologist in the SAAF), volunteered to fight with their brethren in Palestine/Israel, in the looming war against the Arabs.

Smoky and Myra were part of the first group of South African volunteers which had been organized by the South African Zionist Federation, arriving in Palestine on May 9th,1948, and enlisting in the Israel Air Force (IAF) on 10th May.

Smoky as the navigator and the late South African Boris Senior as the pilot, flew on the first operational mission of the IAF on Friday, 14th May. This flight was somewhat unique in that it took off from Tel Aviv airport in Palestine, but when they landed it was the airport of Tel Aviv in Israel, as the flight took place at the very time that Ben Gurion was declaring the establishment of the State of Israel. Smoky served as Chief of Air Operations of the IAF for two-and-a-half years.

Smoky and Myra returned to South Africa, and came on Aliyah in 1962, with four children. On his return to Israel, Smoky and his partner Moshe Wiesel, established the Simon & Wiesel Insurance Agency, which developed into Israel’s largest and most innovative agency in the life insurance arena.

Smoky was elected as Chairman of World Machal – the 4,800 volunteers who came from 59 countries to fight in Israel’s War of Independence in 1948. He is the recipient of a number of awards: an “Ot Hakara” from the Ministry of Defense for his contribution to Machal and to Israel’s security; an “Ot Hakara” to Smoky and his wife as founding members of the IAF; a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Menachem Begin Heritage Foundation, as one of its founders, and having served as Hon. Treasurer for 25 years;  an “Ot Hakara” from the Israel Air Force Association; and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the South African Zionist Federation (Telfed).