Giuseppe Aurili was born on 9 May 1913

He served as a volunteer during the Spanish Civil War.

On 12 June 1940, the 2^o Stormo’s fighters were joined by those of the 10^o Gruppo (84^a, 90^a and 91^a Squadriglie) of the Gorizia based 4^o Stormo C.T.. The Gruppo was commanded by Tenente Colonnello Armando Piragino and started the war at Tobruk T2 with 27 CR.42s.
At the beginning of the hostilities the 84^a Squadriglia C.T. was composed of the following pilots: Capitano Luigi Monti (CO), Capitano Aldo Lanfranco, Tenente Vincenzo Vanni, Maresciallo Emiro Nicola, Maresciallo Mario Bandini, Sergente Maggiore Ugo Corsi, Sergente Domenico Santonocito, Sergente Roberto Steppi, Sergente Giuseppe Scaglioni, Sergente Corrado Patrizi and Sergente Narciso Pillepich. The eleven pilots had only eight Fiat CR.42s. It seems that Sergente Maggiore Corsi and Sergente Pillepich didn’t take part in the move of the unit from Gorizia on 7 June but were however in T2 with the unit from at least 13 June and 15 June.
On 12 June, the first fighter of the 10^o Gruppo to arrive at El Adem T2 was that of Capitano Luigi Monti, who landed in the morning. His Squadriglia’s mates arrived later, obliged to turn back by the bad weather. Then the other Squadriglie followed.

Tenente Aurili arrived back to the 84^a Squadriglia, 10^o Gruppo, on 7 July after having been temporarily detached to Hungary.

At 16:00 on 24 July, a formation of eleven CR.42s from the 10^o Gruppo, backed by six more from the 13^o Gruppo took off to patrol the Bir el Gobi – Sidi Omar – Sollum – Bardia area. Leading the 10^o Gruppo formation was Maggiore Carlo Romagnoli (using an aircraft from the 91^a Squadriglia) and with him were Tenente Franco Lucchini, Maresciallo Omero Alesi and and Tenente Giovanni Guiducci of the 90^a Squadriglia, Capitano Luigi Monti, Capitano Aldo Lanfranco, Tenente Vincenzo Vanni and Tenente Aurili of the 84^a Squadriglia, Tenente Enzo Martissa, Sergente Maggiore Lorenzo Migliorato and Sergente Luigi Ferrario of the 91^a Squadriglia. Pilots from the 13^o Gruppo were Tenente Giulio Torresi, Tenente Eduardo Sorvillo and Sergente Maggiore Ernesto Scalet of the 77^a Squadriglia, Sergente Francesco Nanin of the 82^a Squadriglia and Capitano Giuseppe Dall’Aglio with Sottotenente Dario Magnabosco of the 78^a Squadriglia.
During the patrol they met a British formation estimated to nine Blenheims, which was attacking Bardia, escorted b y 15 Gladiators. The CR.42s attacked the bombers and was in turn attacked by the British escort. Tenente Lucchini was the first to enter combat and damaged three of the British bombers by using 510 rounds of ammunition while the others were dispersed. Tenente Guiducci claimed a Gladiator using 90 rounds of ammunition. The CR.42s of the 84^a Squadriglia remained manoeuvring in close formation until a 90^a Squadriglia aircraft (Lucchini?) drove them against the enemies breaking their formation. Three aircraft from the squadriglia returned to base one by one Tenente Aurili met three Gladiators and damaged one. Capitano Lanfranco became isolated and, attacked by a reported three enemy fighters, was shot down and obliged to bale out in the Sidi Azeiz area. A British patrol took him prisoner a little later. Lanfranco was one of the oldest pilots of the 4^o and a few days later a British message was thrown down near Tobruk, telling that he was wounded in Alexandria hospital. Tenente Martissa forced an enemy fighter to force-land then, coming back to base, saw his wingman in difficulties against the determined attack of an enemy fighter and, even with his guns jammed, attacked it, forcing the Gladiator to break away. Sergente Ferrario returned to base with a damaged fighter. According to some sources Tenente Lucchini is credited with an additional Gladiator during the day, but this can’t be verified with the Squadriglie’s Diaries.
Tenente Giulio Torresi claimed another Gladiator with 250 rounds of ammunition. No losses were suffered by the 13^o Gruppo formation, which landed back at base between 17:25 and 18:05.
It seems that the Italian formation had been involved in combat with five Gladiators from ‘B’ Flight of the 33 Squadron flown by Flying Officer Ernest Dean (Gladiator L9046), Pilot Officer Alfred Costello (N5776), Pilot Officer Vernon Woodward (N5768), Sergeant Ronald Slater (N5783) and Sergeant Shaw (N5775), which had taken off from Sidi Barrani at 17:40 and met a reported 18 CR.42s over Sollum at 18:30. In the combat Woodward claimed one of the enemy aircraft shot down and a second as a probable. Slater claimed a second CR.42 destroyed while Costello claimed a third. One more CR.42s were claimed by the other pilots and since Dean doesn’t seems to have claimed anything during the day it is possible that this was claimed by Shaw but it haven’t been possible to verify this. During the return flight Shaw was forced to land east of Bug Bug with engine troubles probably caused by combat damage (probably the aircraft claimed by Martissa). Enemy bombing soon afterwards destroyed his aircraft on the ground, although he rejoined his unit unharmed after a long walk across the desert. The other pilots from 33 Squadron landed back at base between 18:55 and 19:35.

During the morning on 4 August, 80 Squadrons ‘B’ Flight received a signal from the headquarters to provide four Gladiators to escort a Lysander from 208 Squadron, which was to observe enemy troops movement at Bir Taieb el Esem on the other side of the Libyan border. 'Pat' Pattle (Gladiator Mk.I K7910) decided to lead the escort and took with him Flying Officer Peter Wykeham-Barnes (L8009), Pilot Officer Johnny Lancaster (K7923) and Sergeant Kenneth George Russell Rew (RAF no. 526687) (Gladiator K7908). They took of at 17:15 and reached the rendezvous point in ten minutes where they found the Lysander circling at 6000 feet. Wykeham-Barnes and Rew took up a position about 3000 feet above and immediately behind the Lysander, whilst Pattle and Lancaster climbed 1000 feet higher on the starboard flank. The aircraft crossed the border a few miles south of Sidi Omar twenty minutes later and followed the sand tracks leading to their target.
During the same morning eleven CR.42s of the 97^a Squadriglia went from Benghazi-Berka to El Adem T3 to participate, together with twelve other CR.42s from the 96^a Squadriglia, which had arrived the previous day, and with nine CR.42s of the 10^o Gruppo, in an aerial covering flight of the 2^a Divisione Libica of Regio Esercito. This Division was marching from Bir el Gobi to Gabr Saleh.
A concentration of British armoured vehicles was discovered in the Bir Sheferzen area, around 30 kilometres south-west of Sollum, near the border where a logistic outpost of the Western Desert Force was located and consequently an air attack was planned.
At 16:50, a formation of assault aircraft of the 50^o Stormo took off together with an escorting group of Fiat CR.42 fighters of the 4^o Stormo heading for it. The assault aircraft took off from Tobruk T2bis and were twelve aircraft of the resident 12^o Gruppo Assalto. They included six Breda Ba.65/A80s of the 159^a Squadriglia, armed with 2kg bombs (the Bredas could carry up to 168 of these small calibre bombs) commanded by the Squadriglia Commander Capitano Antonio Dell’Oro and flown by Tenente Adriano Visconti, Tenente Fioravante Montanari (who led the second section), Sergente Maggiore Giovanni Bianchelli, Sergente Maggiore Gianni Pappalepore and Sergente Maggiore Paolo Perno. The other six were Fiat CR.32quaters of the 160^a Squadriglia, armed with eight 2kg bombs and divided in two groups of three. The first group led by Capitano Duilio Fanali (Squadriglia CO) included Sottotenente Giuseppe Mezzatesta and Sergente Maggiore Corrado Sarti as wingmen while the second group was lead by Sottotenente Giuseppe Rossi with Sottotenente Mirko Erzetti and Maresciallo Romolo Cantelli as wingmen.
The Italian fighter escort took off from El Adem T3 and was composed of 31 CR.42s (ten from the 97^a Squadriglia, eleven from the 96^a Squadriglia, one from the 73^a Squadriglia and nine from the 10^o Gruppo). At the head of the two formations were Maggiore Ernesto Botto (in the aircraft from the 73^a Squadriglia) and Maggiore Carlo Romagnoli. Pilots from the 97^a Squadriglia were Capitano Antonio Larsimont Pergameni, Sottotenente Giovanni Barcaro, Sergente Franco Sarasino, Sottotenente Riccardo Vaccari, Sergente Angelo Golino, Sottotenente Jacopo Frigerio, Sergente Maggiore Otello Perotti, Maresciallo Vanni Zuliani, Sergente Maggiore Raffaello Novelli and Sergente Maggiore Massimo Salvatore. Pilots from the 10^o Gruppo were apart from Maggiore Romagnoli, Capitano Giuseppe D’Agostinis, Tenente Enzo Martissa, Sottotenente Ruggero Caporali and Sergente Maggiore Lorenzo Migliorato from the 91^a Squadriglia, Capitano Luigi Monti and Tenente Aurili from the 84^a Squadriglia and Tenente Franco Lucchini and Sergente Amleto Monterumici from the 90^a Squadriglia.
The two Italian formations met at a rendezvous point twenty kilometres east of El Adem and then headed for the target. The 4^o Stormo’s aircraft flew at heights between 3500 and 4500 meters, the Fiat CR.32s at 1000 meters and the Bredas at 300 meters.
On the way towards the frontline, at 5000 m over Ridotta Capuzzo, they spotted a formation of nine Blenheims heading to El Adem, escorted by many Glosters Gladiators. Aircraft of the 96^a Squadriglia and the 10^o Gruppo attacked the bombers and then chased the fighters. In the fierce combat Tenente Franco Lucchini claimed a Gladiator with the use of 385 rounds of ammunition. Pilots from the 91^a Squadriglia claimed two Gladiators and three Blenheims as shared, with two additional Gladiators as shared probables (one of the Glosters was most probably the same claimed by Lucchini). Capitano Monti and Tenente Aurili claimed to have damaged two Blenheims each and then reported being credited with the three Blenheims shot down by the Stormo’s formation as shared. The pilots from the 90^a Squadriglia claimed the same three Blenheims jointly with the 96^a Squadriglia and other pilots of the 10^o Gruppo plus the individual victory of Lucchini and recorded “other Glosters shot down by pilots of 9^o and 10^o Gruppi”. The 96^a Squadriglia’s claims are lacking but were most probably the three Blenheims and the Gloster shared.
The 97^a Squadriglia, covering at a higher altitude, spotted first six Blenheims, which were attacked by the other Squadriglie and then three other Blenheims that were heading towards Egyptian territory and dived to pursue them. Capitano Larsimont Pergameni and Sergente Sarasino chased them for a while, claiming hits on them.
The fighters from the 97^a Squadriglia had most probably attacked a trio of Blenheim Mk.Is (L8667, L8391 and L8530) from 55 Squadron, which had been ordered on short notice to bomb up and meet two other flights from other squadrons over Maaten Bagush at 17:00 to attack an Italian M. T. convoy, 13 miles east of Bir El Gobi (obviously the Libyan division). Commanded by Pilot Officer T. O. Walker in L8667, they missed the rendezvous with the other Squadrons over Maaten Bagush and headed alone towards the front. After crossing the frontier, the trio spotted a big formation of about 25 CR.42s (4^o Stormo’s formation). Twelve of these fighters started in pursuit as the Blenheims turned for home (the 97^a Squadriglia formation). A running engagement, which lasted seven minutes started after which the Italian fighters broke off without having caused or suffered any damage. The other two RAF Squadrons involved in this combat were 211 Squadron and most probable 112 and 113 Squadrons. 211 Squadron was up with two Blenheims piloted by Squadron Leader Bax (L8533) and Flight Lieutenant Jones (L8532), which were intercepted by 40-50 fighters; the only damaged recorded was the wounding in the forearm of Sergeant McIntosh, gunner of L8523. The total lack of records of 113 Squadron and the high level of incompleteness of those of 112 Squadron makes it quite difficult to reconstruct their contribution to the combat. It seems however probable that at least three Gladiators of 112 Squadron were around this area at the time, because it is known that Pilot Officers R. H. Clarke, Homer Cochrane and B. B. E. Duff left Maaten Gerawla during the day for Sidi el Barrani, with the task of patrolling over Sidi Omar (extremely close to the area where the evening combat developed). No encounters with the enemy are however recorded in the fragmentary reconstructed ORB of the unit.
At the end of the combat, Maggiore Botto, who personally claimed the damaging of a British bomber with the use of 200 rounds of ammunition, recorded the shooting down of ten enemy aircraft together with other units. Apart from the five confirmed and two probables already detailed, the remaining victories should be those of the 50^o Stormo.
The formation from the 50^o Stormo continued alone towards the border, arriving over Bir Sheferzen (around thirty kilometres south and slightly east of the position where the escort left it) at 17:20, where they discovered numerous British vehicles that were immediately attacked by the Bredas and Fanali’s trio of CR.32s while Rossi’s stayed at 1000 meters as cover. The Italian aircraft performed two passes over the vehicles and while they were preparing the third the 208 Squadron Lysander and 80 Squadron Gladiators came into the area. The crew of the Lysander spotted the Italians first and alerted the escort with a red Very light before heading due east at low altitude to reach safety.
Pattle and Lancaster dived down but failed to spot any enemy aircraft. Wykeham-Barnes and Rew had also disappeared but a few seconds later Pattle heard Wykeham-Barnes over the radio ordering Rew to attack. Immediately afterwards Pattle saw a reported seven Breda Ba.65s in two separate flights - one containing three aircraft in vic formation and the other made up of two pairs, heading east hunting the Lysander.
Wykeham-Barnes and Rew attacked the formation of four Bredas before they could reach the Lysander and Wykeham-Barnes shot down one of them in flames immediately but at the same time was Rew shot down and killed. Pattle and Lancaster meanwhile attacked the other three Italians from astern. The Bredas dispersed and all four Gladiators separated as they each selected a different enemy machine as a target. Pattle attacked two aircraft, which kept close together and turned in a complete circle. The Bredas dropped to around 200 feet and each released two bombs. This reduced weight meant that they slowly began to creep away from Pattle’s slower Gladiator. Suddenly they however turned north towards the fighter base at El Adem. Pattle quickly cut inside their turn and closed in to 150 yards. He delivered a quarter attack on the nearest Breda but his two port guns almost immediately ceased firing. His aim had been good however and he had hit the Italian who slowed down considerably. He swung in directly astern of it and, after a few more bursts from his remaining two guns, saw a puff of white smoke from the starboard side of the engine. He continued to attack the Breda, which dropped lower and lower and finally crash-landed in a cloud of dust. The second Breda got away. Lancaster had also been having trouble with his guns. After his initial burst, all four guns jammed and he spent the next ten minutes frantically pulling his Constantinescu gear pistons and aiming at various enemy aircraft, but without any further bullets leaving his guns. Eventually he was forced to go on to the defensive and got an explosive bullet in the left arm and shoulder. Because he feared the loss of blood would cause him to lose consciousness, he wriggled out of the fight and with his right thumb pressed tightly against his left radial artery, held the stick between his knees and waggled his way home. In spite of his wounds and the serious damage to his Gladiator, he made quite a smooth landing before losing consciousness. It is reported, that the fitter who came to examine the aircraft shortly afterwards pronounced it too damaged to repair in situ and ordered it to be burned forthwith! However, in fact it seems that even if it wasn’t any more flown by 80 Squadron, Gladiator Mk.I K 7923 was repaired and later in the year passed to the Greek Air Force.
After claiming the Breda, Wykeham-Barnes was attacked by the CR.32s. He claimed one of them before another, attacked him, which hit his Gladiator, in his Combat Fighter Report he recorded: “The left side of the instrument panel and most of the windscreen went and two bullets came through the back of the seat before I could close the throttle, and the CR 32 passed under me. My machine then fell into a dive and I abandoned it, landing me by parachute.” He had received a shrapnel wound. He was also to receive a swollen tongue and a pair of very painful blistered feet before being rescued by a detachment of 11th Hussars, who brought him back to Sidi Barrani.
Four of the Bredas were damaged and in particular that of Sergente Maggiore Perno, which was hit fifty times and the pilot was slightly wounded in the leg, before Fanali’s Fiats were able to intervene. In the meantime, it was the section of Sottotenente Rossi, which was waiting higher up for its turn to attack, that first fell over the RAF fighters, taking them by surprise. After the sharp initial attack of the Fiats the combat developed into a WW I style dogfight which lasted fifteen minutes. At the end all the Italian aircraft returned to base claiming three of the enemies; one by Fanali (probably Wykeham-Barnes) and two by Cantelli (probably Rew and Lancaster).
One of the damaged Bredas was piloted by Tenente Adriano Visconti who pressed home his attacks against the enemy armoured vehicles notwithstanding the enemy’s fighter opposition. The behaviour of Visconti in this particular combat deeply impressed his commander Capitano Dell’Oro who proposed him for a Medaglia d’argento al Valor Militare. The motivation of this award that Visconti received “in the field” stated that: ”During a strafing attack against enemy’s armoured vehicles he pressed home his attacks careless of an enemy fighter that was following him shooting at him from short distance (…) and with its last ammunitions he succeeded in burning one of the armoured cars of the enemy(…)”.
After Pattle had finished off the Breda he turned towards the border while attempting, without much success, to clear his port fuselage gun. Ten miles south-east of El Adem he spotted five biplanes (claimed as CR.42s) diving towards him from the north-west. He flew on, pretending that he had not seen the Italians, until they were almost in position to open fire and then, with a flick of the wrist and a sharp prod of the foot, shot up and away from the Fiats. The Italians split up and attacked him independently from all directions. The Fiats made repeated attacks simultaneously from the quarter and beam, using the speed they gained in the dive to regain altitude. After each attack Pattle was forced on to the defensive and turned away from each attack, occasionally delivering a short attack on the most suitably target as it dived past. One CR.32 on completing its attack turned directly in front of his Gladiator, presenting him with an excellent deflection shot at close range. He fired a long burst with his remaining two guns, which caused the Italian fighter to turn slowly onto its back and then spin down towards the desert. Soon after it hit the ground his starboard wing gun also jammed but fortunately at the same time the remaining enemy fighters broke away. He was now 40 miles behind enemy lines with only one gun operational and he turned for home at 1000 feet altitude.
20 miles from the border he was spotted and attacked by twelve CR.42s and three Breda Ba.65s. The Bredas attacked first but he easily avoided their attacks before the CR.42s attacked. They used the same tactics as the five earlier had used with quarter and beam attacks. Within a few seconds Pattle’s remaining gun jammed as a result of an exploded round in the breach, so he attempted to make the border by evasive tactics and heading east at every opportunity. He soon discovered that one of the enemy pilots was an exceptional shot who made repeated attacks using full deflection with great accuracy. Each time this particular Italian came in, he had to use all his skill and cunning to keep out of the sights of the Fiat. The remainder of the Italians as a whole lacked accuracy and did not press home their attacks to a decisive range. Nevertheless, their presence and the fact that he had to consider each attack made the work of the more determined pilot very much easier. He managed to keep this up for fully fifteen minutes before the determined Italian came out of a loop directly above Pattle’s Gladiator and opened fire. Pattle turned away to avoid the bullets, but flew straight into the line of fire from another Fiat. The rudder controls were shot away, so he could no longer turn. He pulled back on the control column, climbed to about 400 feet and jumped. As he fell the pilot parachute caught his foot, but he managed to kick it free and the main chute opened just in time for him to make a safe landing off the first swing. The time was now around 19:15. He started to walk towards what he thought was Egypt during the night but found out at dawn to his horror that he had actually walked in the opposite direction, deeper into Libya. He turned around and crossed the border at around midday. Shortly after this, he was rescued by a detachment from 11th Hussars, which brought him back to Sidi Barrani.
It is possible that Pattle was shot down by Tenente Franco Lucchini.

On 11 September, the 9^o and 10^o Gruppo were still employed in standing patrols over the troops. During the second patrol of the day, at 17:45 in the Sidi Omar – Bardia area, a Blenheim was discovered at 6000 metres.
The Italian formation was escorting three CR.32s and was led by Maggiore Carlo Romagnoli. It was composed of seven CR.42s from the 84^a Squadriglia (Capitano Luigi Monti, Capitano Vincenzo Vanni, Tenente Aurili, Sottotenente Paolo Berti, Sergente Roberto Steppi, Sergente Narciso Pillepich and Sergente Domenico Santonocito), five CR.42s from the 91^a Squadriglia (Capitano Giuseppe D’Agostinis, Sottotenente Ruggero Caporali, Sergente Maggiore Leonardo Ferrulli, Sergente Elio Miotto and Sergente Alessandro Bladelli) and six CR.42s from the 90^a Squadriglia (Tenente Giovanni Guiducci, Tenente Franco Lucchini, Sottotenente Neri De Benedetti, Maresciallo Omero Alesi, Sergente Maggiore Angelo Savini and Sergente Bruno Bortoletti).
Capitano Vanni, Tenente Aurili and Sergente Steppi attacked first, followed by other pilots of the formation. During the combat Vanni’s aircraft was hit by return fire and with the compressed air piping pierced, he was forced to turn back. His wingmen continued the pursuit and claimed the Blenheim shot down.
The bomber however was assigned as a shared to all the 10^o Gruppo pilots presents (even if , for example, it is known that 90^a Squadriglia pilots totally used only 140 rounds of ammunition so possibly only one of them was able to use his guns).
This claim can’t be verified with RAF sources but it is possible that it was a Blenheim from 113 Squadron since this unit’s ORB is lacking.

On 14 September, the 4^o Stormo continued to protect the ground forces. A mixed formation of 23 CR.42s from the 9^o Gruppo commanded by Maggiore Ernesto Botto with 15 CR.42s from the 10^o Gruppo as high cover, took off at 10:25. At 11:00, over Sollum some 10^o Gruppo pilots discovered a formation of four Bristol Blenheims. They attacked and claimed one shot down in flames. The bomber was credited as a shared to the whole formation from the 10^o Gruppo (Tenente Giovanni Guiducci, Sottotenente Luigi Prati, Tenente Franco Lucchini and Sergente Bruno Bortoletti of the 90^a Squadriglia and Maggiore Carlo Romagnoli, Capitano Giuseppe D’Agostinis, Sottotenente Andrea Dalla Pasqua, Sottotenente Ruggero Caporali, Sottotenente Carlo Albertini and Sergente Maggiore Leonardo Ferrulli of the 91^a Squadriglia and Capitano Luigi Monti, Capitano Vincenzo Vanni, Tenente Aurili, Tenente Paolo Berti and Sergente Domenico Santonocito of the 84^a Squadriglia).
This clam can’t be verified with RAF records. The only known British actions for the day were a couple of afternoon bomber raids. Four Blenheims of 55 Squadron with others from 211 Squadron were ordered to attack Italian troops in the Sollum area in the first afternoon. The 55 Squadron quartet returned at 16:45 without suffering losses. Its pilots reported slight and ineffective AA fire and the presence of Italian fighters (but no interception occurred). Eight machines of 211 Squadron led by Gordon-Finalyson also attacked, claiming many hits in the target area. However no Italian fighters were seen and all the bombers were back at around 17:10.

On 17 September, Sottotenente Riccardo Vaccari (97^a Squadriglia) flew a night patrol from El Adem in the Sidi el Barrani area. During this mission, thanks to the moonlight, he discovered a British naval formation steaming north-east of Sollum. Returning to El Adem he gave the alarm and two S.79s torpedo-bombers flown by Tenente Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia ("278-3" with the crew of Tenente Carlo Copello, Aviere Scelto motorista Neroni and Primo Aviere Marconista Giuseppe Dondi) and Tenente Guido Robone (“278-1”; with the crew of Sergente Deodato, Tenente di Vascello Osservatore Marazio, Primo aviere Marconista Mauri and Primo Aviere Motorista Sabatini) of the 278^a Squadriglia Autonoma Aerosiluranti took off at 21:55.
Occupying spare room in the bombers were in “278-3” Tenente Aurili and Sottotenente Ezio Viglione (96^a Squadriglia) sharing one parachute and in “278-1” Sottotenente Aldo Gon (96^a Squadriglia) without a parachute.
At 22:40, near the coast of Ras Azzaz they discovered the enemy ships, it was the heavy cruiser HMS Kent with its escort, bound to bombard Bardia.
With the moon on the right side, lighting the target, the two S.79s attacked in single line (Robone after Buscaglia) with an approach of 50 degrees with regard to the course of the ship. At 22:45, they launched their torpedoes from a distance of 700 metres. One of the torpedoes hit HMS Kent’s stern near the propellers. It was the first serious damage caused to a British ship by Regia Aeronautica, and indeed HMS Kent, towed to Alexandria in two days with great difficulties, was unfit for further service in the Mediterranean. At this moment, it was the only 8-inch cruiser of the fleet because the other one assigned to Cunningham’s fleet (HMS York) was still on its way towards Suez.
Back at base Buscaglia’s aircraft was late in landing and Colonnello Grandinetti treated Gon with imprisonment since he held him responsible of “such a silly thing” and the loss of two pilots of the importance of Aurili and Viglione. After half an hour Buscaglia landed safely and it all ended well for Gon.

On 30 October, Aurili was promoted to Capitano.

On 7 December, Capitano Aurili took command of the 90^a Squadriglia after Tenente Giovanni Guiducci.

At 17:55 on 8 December, twelve British bombers identified as Bristol Blenheims, arrived over Benina airfield without any alarm. From 1500 metres altitude they attacked the airstrip, the hangars and the dispersed fighters. Despite the low visibility (due to the clouds covering the twilight lights and the rising moon), Capitano Aurili, CO of the 90^a Squadriglia, took off alone, avoiding many incendiary bombs that were burning amidst the airstrip. When he reached the same height as the British bombers, which was starting on a second pass, Aurili attacked and fired on the first two vics of enemy bombers (six aircraft). One of the bombers was seen to crash south of Regima by two land observers.
At 18:40, Aurili tried to land in total absence of light. Arriving too fast he lost his landing gear and crash-landed. He was slightly wounded in the face and the CR.42 was RD.
Some minutes after Aurili’s landing, Benina suffered another heavy air attack made by a reportedly 20 Vickers Wellingtons attacking in subsequent waves until 20:30. The damage to the airstrip and that suffered by the fighters of the alarm section prevented any scramble against these raiders. The British bombers were in fact six Wellingtons from 70 Squadron led by Wing Commander Webb, which attacked from 19:00 to 20:00, claiming buildings destroyed and aircraft bombed and machine gunned. No losses were suffered and all the bombers were back at Fuka at 23:30.
In the end, the 90^a Squadriglia suffered five planes RS (apart from the RD fighter of Aurili). The S.79s of the 33^o Gruppo suffered heavily with one bombers written off and seven slightly damaged (RS) together with an S.81 (possibly an aircraft from the 54^o Gruppo). Two hangars were also hit and two men wounded.
Aurili received a written commendation for his behaviour during this attack and his scramble under the bombs (curiously while trying the same kind of action his predecessor (Capitano Renzo Maggini) suffered the wounds that finally prevented him to take part in the campaign).
At 21:30, Capitano Maggini and Capitano Aurili started from Benina to reach Benghazi in a Fiat 1100 staff car of the Army and suffered a serious car accident in the process. Maggini died on the night between the 9 and 10 December because of the fractures suffered during this accident, while Aurili remained critically wounded (but eventually survived).

On 9 December, Tenente Giovanni Guiducci again took command of the 90^a Squadriglia after Capitano Aurili.

In 1943, Aurili was serving in the 24^o Gruppo Autonomo.

Aurili ended the war with 1 victory, this being claimed while flying the Fiat CR.42.
During the war, he was decorated with two Medaglie d'argento al valor militare, the Medaglia di bronzo al valor militare, Croce al merito di guerra, Medaglia commemorativa della campagna di Spagna and Medaglia di benemerenza per i volontari della guerra Spagna.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1940
	24/07/40		1	Gladiator (a)	Damaged	Fiat CR.42		Bardia area area	84a Squadriglia
	04/08/40		1	Blenheim (b)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Ridotta Capuzzo area	84a Squadriglia
	04/08/40		1	Blenheim (b)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Ridotta Capuzzo area	84a Squadriglia
	04/08/40		1	Blenheim (b)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Ridotta Capuzzo area	84a Squadriglia
	11/09/40		1/19	Blenheim (c)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Sidi Omar - Bardia area	84a Squadriglia
	14/09/40	11:00-	1/15	Blenheim (d)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Sollum area	84a Squadriglia
1	08/12/40		1	Blenheim (e)	Destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Benina area	90a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 1 and 5 shared destroyed, 1 damaged.
TOTAL: 1 and 5 shared destroyed, 1 damaged.
(a) Claimed in combat with Gladiators from 33 Squadron, which claimed four and one probably destroyed while losing one Gladiator. The 10^o Gruppo claimed two or three destroyed and one damaged for the loss of one CR.42 while the 13^o Gruppo claimed one without losses.
(b) Claimed in combat with bombers probably from 55 and 211 and/or 113 Squadrons and probably Gladiators from 112 Squadron. None of these RAF units reported any losses or claims. The Italian fighters from the 9^o and 10^o Gruppi totally claimed 3 Blenheims and 2 and 2 probable Gladiators.
(c) This claim can’t be verified with RAF sources.
(d) This clam can’t be verified with RAF records.
(e) Probably Wellington from 70 Squadron, which didn’t suffer any losses.

Sources:
33 Squadron Operations Record Book kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Annuario Ufficiale Delle Forze Armate Del Regno D’Italia Anno 1943. Part III Regia Aeronautica – 1943 Istituto Poligrafico Dello Stato, Roma
Buscaglia e gli Aerosiluranti 278^a e 281^a Squadriglia dalla costituzione al Marzo 1942 - Orazio Giuffrida, 1994 Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore Aeronautica, Roma
Diario Storico 77^a Squadriglia kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Diario Storico 78^a Squadriglia kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Diario Storico 82^a Squadriglia kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Diario Storico 84^a Squadriglia kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Diario Storico 90^a Squadriglia kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Diario Storico 91^a Squadriglia kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Quelli del Cavallino Rampante - Antonio Duma, 1981 Editore Dell'Ateneo, Roma kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo.
The Mediterranean and Middle East, volume I "The early successes against Italy (to May 1941)" - Major-General I. S. O. Playfair, 1954 Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London
Additional info kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo.