Olindo Simionato was from Mirano (Venezia).

He served as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, where he served in the XXIII Gruppo.

During his time in Spain, he claimed 1 victory with the Fiat CR.32.

During the Second World War, he served in the 150^a Squadriglia.

At 16:45 on 17 June 1941, 204 Group ordered the despatch of a dozen Hurricanes to carry out ground strafing sorties along enemy lines of communication and to attack dumps, camps and M/T in the Sidi Omar area. Six of the aircraft were drawn from the 33 Squadron detachment led by Flight Lieutenant Vernon Woodward, and two from 229 Squadron detachment, plus one from 73 Squadron, with Flight Lieutenant Dudley Honor leading the 274 Squadron section. Shortly into the flight a large number of enemy aircraft were sighted - Ju 87s from II./StG2 and 239^a Squadriglia, with escort provided by Bf 109s of 3./JG27 and G.50bis from 150^a Squadriglia (take-off at 15:30).
Three of the pilots managed to successfully engage the Stukas, of which 229 Squadron’s Pilot Officer Douglas Edghill (Z4366) claimed two (victories nos. 5 to 6 of a total of 7) and Pilot Officer R. R. Mitchell (Z4630) one, while Flying Officer D. T. Moir (Z4175) of 33 Squadron also claimed one. At least one aircraft of II./StG2 was totally lost (Ju 87 WNr 6047) in which Leutnant Franz Lauberger and Unteroffizier Thomas Mantsch were killed.
Meanwhile, the other Hurricanes soon became embroiled in a series of dogfights with the escort, Flight Lieutenant Woodward (Z4377) shooting down the G.50bis flown by Tenente Serafino Molinari, who was killed, before he engaged and damaged a second. Sergeant Eric ‘Jumbo’ Genders (Z4174), also of 33 Squadron, claimed two more (victories nos. 6 to 7 of a total of 8). Gender’s claims were initially claimed only as damaged but were later confirmed by the Army. Flight Lieutenant Honor (Z4614) claimed a Messerschmitt damaged and Lieutenant Dudley Dove SAAF (W9298), who was attached to 33 Squadron, reported that he had shot down another, but four Hurricanes failed to return including one (Z4509) flown by 33 Squadron’s Flying Officer Eric Woods, who was killed. The 274 Squadron section lost two pilots, Frenchman Sous-Lieutenant Robert Grasset (Z4110) and Pilot Officer Terrence Officer (Z4533), both of whom survived to be taken prisoner, Montpellier-born Grasset’s aircraft crashing in the Hasbardia area of Tobruk. The fourth missing Hurricane (W9198) was flown by the sole 73 Squadron representative, Pilot Officer ‘Bert’ Reynolds, though he returned next day and reported that he had been shot down by AA fire.
The Messerschmitt pilots returned reporting four victories north-east of Gambut. Unteroffizier Heinz Schmidt claiming two at 17:10 and 17:12 (this was Schmidt’s victories nos. 5 to 6 and his last before being killed on 28 June 1941), Oberfähnrich Hans-Joachim Marseille claimed one at 17:15 (victory no. 12 of a total of 158) and Feldwebel Karl Mentnich claimed one at 17:20 (his first of a total of 7). The G.50bis pilots also submitted claims for three Hurricanes shot down south of Halfaya, Sottotenente Agostino Celentano, Maresciallo Simionato and Sergente Maggiore Patriarca being the claimants.
This was 33 Squadron’s first encounter with the enemy since Crete.

Early on 25 June a large incoming raid was plotted on the radar at Malta. Nine Hurricanes each from 46 and 249 Squadrons took off and climbed hard. Only 46 Squadron was to intercept the incoming formation, which was reported as one S.79 and 24 MC.200s at 21,000 feet, 15 miles south of Sicily. The force, which had left the coast of that island, included a lone S.79 of the 58^a Squadriglia, 32^o Gruppo B.T. flown by Colonnello Ranieri Cupini, the Stormo commander, with an escort of no less than 48 MC.200s, ten from the 10^o Gruppo and 12 from the 16^o Gruppo in the lead. Twelve of these fighters were forced to return almost at once with various technical troubles, but the bomber and the remaining 36 fighters continued.
Squadron Leader A. C. Rabagliati (Hurricane Z2481) led the attack straight into the formation, concentrating his own fire on the Savoia. Several pilots saw the undercarriage fall into the ‘down’ position and the bomber was last seen heading home, losing height and streaming oil; Rabagliati was credited with a probable.
Pilot Officer Anderson, flying No. 2 to Rabagliati, fired at one Macchi, then attacked two more, firing at them continually in a dive from 18,000 feet to sea level, where one crashed into the sea 20 miles south of Delimara Point. Sergeant Copp attacked an MC.200 at 10,000 feet, hitting it with a four-second burst from dead astern, and then a two-second burst from the starboard beam. The fighter turned hard to port, pulling its nose up high. This allowed Copp to get another good burst into the cockpit and it dropped “like a plummet, apparently out of control”. It was seen to go into the sea 11 miles south of Cap Religione. Meanwhile Pilot Officer Main, having fired at the Savoia briefly, dived on seven Macchis, firing many bursts from beam and astern at 250 yards’ range into one. He was then attacked by a second, but turned on this and chased it to within ten miles of the Sicilian coast. He last saw it going down steeply towards land at 8,000 feet after he had fired four short bursts into it, and he was awarded a confirmed destroyed for this bringing the number of Macchis believed to have been shot down to three.
Actually, losses to the Italians amounted to two Macchis of the 16^o Gruppo; Maresciallo Giovanni Bravin was killed, but Maresciallo Simionato came down in the sea 20 miles from the coast, and was rescued by a Z.506B. One Hurricanes was claimed as a shared by Tenente Franco Lucchini, Sottotenente Virgilio Vanzan, Sergente Maggiore Angelo Savini and Sergente Giovanni Battista Ceoletta, all from the 90^a Squadriglia. Other pilots claimed a shared probable. On this occasion, no British losses were suffered.

At 18:10 on 10 May 1942, five Z.1007bis again were out to attack Malta. The Italian bombers, which came from 50^o Gruppo B.T., were escorted by twenty MC.202s from the 9^o Gruppo and ten Re.2001s from 2^o Gruppo (making their combat debut over Malta). Twenty Ju 87s of III./StG3 and Ju 88s followed the Italian aircraft with a large escort of Bf 109s.
At 17:40, ten Spitfires from 601 Squadron had been scrambled to intercept the incoming raid and these aircraft attacked the Italian aircraft.
In the ensuing melee, Squadron Leader J. D. Bisdee leading an attack on Tenente Domenico Robillotta’s 211^a Squadriglia bomber (MM23417), which blew up, the wreckage crashing into a field near Kalkara; three of the crew were killed and one injured, whilst a fifth was seen to bale out and fall into Grand Harbour when his parachute failed to open properly. Sergeant F. W. Farfan claimed a second bomber as probably destroyed, and Sergeant ‘Jim’ Innes damaged a third; one of these, MM23400, was hit hard and landed at Gela airfield with two members of the crew wounded, one dying later in hospital. One of the Macchis was shot down by Pilot Officer Walter ‘Wally’ Caldwell (BR344/4-H), in which Capitano Roberto Dagasso, commander of the 97^a Squadriglia lost his life. Two Re.2001s sustained combat damage but were able to return to Sicily. 601 Squadron suffered no losses.
On board another of the Cant Z.1007bis was Antonio Ferri:

”I’ll never forget that mission. We were told at briefing to expect trouble; that the Germans had run into heavy opposition earlier in the day. There was anxiety as we put on our flying gear. None of the crew said much, but you could cut the tension with a knife. The squadron commander tried to relax us, pointing out we’d have dozens of fighters escorting us, but it did little good. I remember sitting on the grass under the wing of our plane, waiting for the signal to take off. It was so peaceful. The three engines had been tested, then turned off. The only sound was of the birds. You could see a donkey grazing nearby and you could smell the blossoms. It was about 5pm, so it wasn’t terribly hot. The tranquillity of the scene, and the knowledge of what lay ahead, made me ache for life, if I can put it that way.
We snapped on our parachutes and life jackets, the guns were checked, oxygen masks were hooked up and our pilot glanced over at Mount Etna to see which way the wind was blowing its smoke plume. At this point there was a nervous energy that was almost intoxicating. Then the engines roared into life and we taxied into position for take-off. You could see the grass being beaten down by the whirling propeller blades. Then we were off, with five other Cants coming just behind us. As we neared Malta we could see dust in the distance, where the British planes were taking off to intercept us. We looked around and could see our own fighters high above us in the sun. Flying over enemy territory always gave me a queer feeling. You knew they could see you, that people who hated you were running to their flak guns and planes, getting ready to try to kill you. Somebody suddenly shouted, ”There they are!” It never ceased to amaze me how quickly the Spitfires and Hurricanes would appear. One moment you were alone in the sky and the next second there they were, coming at you head-on, with guns blazing. When I first saw the guns winking on British fighters I thought they were turning their landing lights on. But by this time I was experienced enough to know better.”

”It went straight down; I didn’t see anyone get out. That got your attention very quickly. Another Cant was hit and fell away, but the rest of us pressed on. By this time our fighters were mixing it up with the English so we were left alone for the moment. That’s when the flak came up at us. You could see muzzle flashes all over Malta, or at least it seemed that way to me. Our plane was hit in the starboard wing and in the fuselage but none of the crew was hurt. We dropped our bombs and, as always, you could feel the old Cant rise up involuntarily as the extra weight of the bombs fell away. We turned for home, but half a dozen Spitfires were after us. I think there were so many that they got in each other’s way, because they only put one cannon shell into our rudder. Our rear gunner was firing back for all he was worth. You could smell the gunpowder all over the plane. Somehow, we got the hell out of there. I was OK while we were airborne but after I got into my quarters I was shaking like a leaf and started to cry. I swore I wouldn’t go to Malta again, but of course I did. None of us had any choice in the matter. If you refused to fly you could be shot.”

In the early afternoon of 7 July, twenty-three MC.202s of 155^o Gruppo (seven of 351^a Squadriglia, nine of 360^a Squadriglia and seven of 378^a Squadriglia; one from 378^a Squadriglia returned however due to technical problems) and twelve of 20^o Gruppo, led by Duilio Fanali, and twelve Re 2001s of 2^o Gruppo (two turned back), escorted nine Cant Z.1007bis of 9^o Stormo, which were out to attack Luqa.
Twenty-two Spitfires Mk.Vs of 126 and 185 Squadrons were scrambled and attacked, diving in two groups; one group attacking the bombers and the other the escort.
Two Spitfires of 185 Squadron were shot down when 20-year-old Flight Sergeant Peter Terry (RAF no. 1257673) crashed on land with BR317 and 21-year-old Flight Sergeant Haydn Haggas (RAF no. 1282139) crashed into the sea in BR283. Both pilots were killed. One of the Spitfires was claimed by Maresciallo Simionato (150^a Squadriglia, 2^o Gruppo) and one was shared by pilots of the 20^o Gruppo (including possibly also by Fanali). The 20^o Gruppo also claimed damaged five Spitfires; two of them by Capitano Carlo Miani (CO of the 360^a Squadriglia) and Sottottenente Romano Biasiol (360^a Squadriglia) on the way home. One of the damaged Spitfires crashed during landing.
Flight Sergeant J. W. Yarra (BR387 “W”) of 185 Squadron shot down the MC.202 (MM9033) of Tenente Fabrizio Cherubini (353^a Squadriglia, 20^o Gruppo) and he became MIA. Yarra claimed one more fighter as a Re.2001. Flight Sergeant J. E. MacNamara of 185 Squadron claimed two Z.1007 damaged and Pilot Officer W. L. Miller of 126 Squadron claimed a third damaged while another Z.1007 (MM23243) of 60^a Squadriglia, 33^o Gruppo, flown by Tenente Francesco Antonelli was shot down by AA fire; five of the crew jumped but three were KIA.

Simionato ended the war with 1 biplane victory and a total of 6.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	193?
1	??/??/3?		1	Enemy aircraft	Destroyed	CR.32		Spain	XXIII Gruppo
	1941
2	17/06/41	15:30-	1	Hurricane (a)	Destroyed	G.50bis		S Halfaya	150a Squadriglia
	1942
3	10/05/42	18:10-	1	Spitfire (b)	Destroyed	Re.2001		Malta area	150a Squadriglia
4	07/07/42	p.m.	1	Spitfire (c)	Destroyed	Re.2001		Malta area	150a Squadriglia
5	??/??/4?		1	Enemy aircraft	Destroyed				150a Squadriglia
6	??/??/4?		1	Enemy aircraft	Destroyed				150a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 1 destroyed.
TOTAL: 6 destroyed.
(a) Claimed in combat with Hurricanes from 33, 73 and 229 Squadrons, which claimed 4 fighters and 2 damaged and 4 Stukas destroyed while losing 4 Hurricanes. Axis fighters claimed 7 Hurricanes without losses.
(b) Claimed in combat with Spitfires from 601 Squadron, which claimed 1 Italian fighter without suffering any losses. The 9^o and 2^o Gruppi claimed 6 fighters, 2 probables and 2 damaged for the loss of 1 MC.202.
(c) Claimed in combat with Spitfires from 126 and 185 Squadron.

Sources:
Air War over Spain - Jesus Salas Larrazabal, 1974 Ian Allan Ltd, Shepperton, Surrey, ISBN 0-7110-0521-4
Assi Italiani Della Caccia 1936-1945 - Giovanni Massimello, 1999 Aerofan no. 69 apr.-giu. 1999, Giorgio Apostolo Editore, Milan
Elenco Nominativo dei Militari dell' A. M. Decorati al V. M. Durante it Periodo 1929 - 1945 2 Volume M - Z
Fiat CR.32 Aces of the Spanish Civil War - Alfredo Logoluso, 2010 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-84603-983-6
Macchi C.202/C.205V Units In Combat – Marco Mattioli, 2022 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-4728-5068-3
Malta: The Spitfire year 1942 - Christopher Shores, Brian Cull and Nicola Malizia, 1991 Grub Street, London
Spitfires over Malta – Brian Cull with Frederick Galea, 2005 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-904943-30-6