Paolo Berti was from Venezia.

On 17 August 1940, the 4^o Stormo received two new pilots when Sottotenente Berti was posted to the 84^a Squadriglia, 8^o Gruppo, while Sergente Maggiore Giovanni Casero was posted to the 91^a Squadriglia, 10^o Gruppo, around the same time; Casero had served as instructor in the Spanish Air Force until July 1940.

On 11 September 1940, 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 Giuseppe Aurili, Sottotenente 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 Giuseppe Aurili, Tenente Berti and Sergente Domenico Santonocito of the 84^a Squadriglia).
Sottotenente Albertini later told that that the Blenheim had been left behind by its squadron and he fired at it all the rounds he had, but he could not destroy it. At the beginning, the bomber returned fire, but after being hit several times, they stopped and no sign of life could be noticed. He followed the bomber for a while, once finished his rounds, but nothing happened, and the Blenheim continued on the same route.
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 came back 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.

The serious damage suffered to Benghazi still required responses and another mission over Mersa Matruh was planned for 22 September and eleven SM 79s from 14^o Stormo led by Colonnello Coppi, 19 bombers from 9^o Stormo led by Colonnello Aramu and ten bomber from 15^o Stormo led by Maggiore Cunteri attacked with a total of 357 bombs of 100 and 50 kilos. All bombers returned between 17:20 and 17:55. The AA fire was reported as strong and no enemy fighters were seen.
46 fighters escorted the bombers. 21 CR.42s were from the 2^o Stormo and additional fighters of the 4^o Stormo. The 4^o Stormo’s 25 CR.42s had been deployed to Amseat A3 and Menastir M to reduce the distance to the target.
On taking off the plane of Sottotenente Berti of the 84^a Squadriglia, 10^o Gruppo, suffered an accident in bad visibility and was damaged.

In early 1941, the 10^o Gruppo moved back to Italy to re-equip with Macchi MC.200s.

On 16 June 1941, the 10^o Gruppo moved to Trapani, Sicily to take part in the attacks on Malta.

By the end of 1941, the 10^o Gruppo re-equipped with MC.202s and returned to Sicily on 2 April 1942. The unit flew in to Castelvetrano from Rome/Ciampino with 26 new MC.202 led by Capitano Franco Lucchini.

During the morning on 17 May 1942, pairs and quartets of MC.202s patrolled over and around Malta. The 10^o Gruppo flew two sorties and the first pair was led by Sottotenente Berti with Sergente Corrado Patrizi of the 84^a Squadriglia. Three kilometres north of Valetta, they spotted a small cargo vessel, which they attacked.

On 19 May, 10^o Gruppo flew their last mission over Malta.

Having tested their MC.202s in action, they returned to Italy to modify the fighters with sand filters, and on 26 May 1942, they left for a second tour of desert operations in North Africa.

Between 13:45-15:10 on 8 June, Capitano Franco Lucchini led ten MC.202s from the 10^o Gruppo (six from the 84^a Squadriglia, two from the 90^a Squadriglia and two from the 91^a Squadriglia) on a sweep over Bir Hacheim. At 14:20, a formation of 15 P-40s was spotted lower down from an altitude of 4,000m over Bir Hacheim. They were attacked and engaged in an air battle for ten minutes. In total, three P-40s were credited shot down, one probable, and three machine-gunned (1507 rounds). All the claims for destroyed P-40s were made by the 84^a Squadriglia. One was claimed by Tenente Luigi Giannella (MC.202 MM7803), the second was claimed by Sergente Luciano Perdoni (MM7919; who also claimed the probable) while the third was shared between Capitano Lucchini (MM7797; he fired on three more P-40s), Tenente Berti (MM7937; he fired on three more P-40s) and Sergente Piero Buttazzi (MM7933).
It seems that the 10^o Gruppo had encountered 233 Wing, that reported combat over Bir Hacheim when 2 SAAF Squadron with four Kittyhawks flew as the leader squadron on a wing sweep between 14:35-16:10. The fighters were flying at an altitude of between 8,000ft and 6,000ft but they broke away from the formation and were not involved in the fight. Eight Tomahawks of 5 SAAF Squadron (14:45-16:00) were top cover and were flying at 8,000ft with eight Tomahawks of 4 SAAF Squadron (14:30-16:15) as medium cover. 4 SAAF reported over twenty enemy aircraft and Lieutenant G. H. Kaufmann (4 SAAF Squadron) claimed a damaged Bf 109 at 15:30 but the back of his plane’s canopy was hit by a shell. This badly damaged the fighter (Cat. II) but the pilot was unhurt. At the same time was Lieutenant John Lindbergh (5 SAAF Squadron, Tomahawk IIb AN309/GL-O) was flying at 8,000ft when he saw seven Bf 109s attacking from above:

“... I saw Me.109s attacking left-hand section of medium cover. I gave warning by R/T and turned towards the EA. At this moment I saw another 109 coming almost head-on and slightly below. I aimed a bit in front of him and fired. Almost immediately he started smoking from the top of its cowling, near the nose. ... I saw another 109, about 1000’ below me climbing steeply. I intercepted his climb at my own level and fired a long burst, following him up. I saw the explosive ammunition hitting the 109’s rudder and starboard wing. As I was turning away I had to take violent avoiding action to avoid another 109 on my tail. … One Me. 109 damaged.”

Between 09:30-10:30 on 4 July, Capitano Franco Lucchini led five MC.202s of the 84^a Squadriglia and six of the 90^a Squadriglia on a free sweep over the El Alamein area. At 4,500 metres, they met 20 Bostons escorted by many P-40 and Spitfires; at a lower level flew a formation of Hurribombers (around 20 enemy fighters were reported). Led by Capitano Lucchini, the Italians attacked both formations with success. After a 30-minutes fight, claims for one Boston and a probable, one Hurricane, one P-40 and two Spitfires (plus two probables) were submitted by the Italian pilots. Many fighters were also claimed damaged. The claims were made by:
Maresciallo Angelo Savini (90^a Squadriglia) one Boston destroyed
Sergente Maggiore Mario Veronesi (90^a Squadriglia in MC.202 MM7789/84-5) one Boston probably destroyed and one Spitfire destroyed
Maresciallo Pietro Del Turco (90^a Squadriglia) one Hurricane destroyed
Tenente Luigi Giannella (84^a Squadriglia in MM7815/84-6) one Spitfire destroyed
Capitano Ranieri Piccolomini (90^a Squadriglia) one Spitfire probably destroyed
Sottotenente Virgilio Vanzan (90^a Squadriglia) one Spitfire probably destroyed
The P-40 was claimed as a shared between all twelve pilots.
Additional damaged fighters were claimed by Sergente Livio Barbera (84^a Squadriglia), Tenente Berti (90^a Squadriglia), Capitano Lucchini (temporarily CO 10^o Gruppo) and Sottotenente Sforza Libera (90^a Squadriglia), who in his first combat mission, damaged a Spitfire.
The Italian pilots returned without losses.
It seems that they at least had encountered Hurricane IIcs from 33 Squadron, which reported combat with MC.202 at 09:15 in the El Alamein area. Flight Lieutenant F. J. Aldrige (Hurricane IIc BE134/Y) claimed one MC.202 destroyed and two more were claimed as shared probably destroyed by five pilots of the flight. However, Hurricane IIc BE469 was shot down and 19-year-old Pilot Officer Anthony George Merritt (RAF No. 108955) was KiA. Three more Hurricanes were damaged but the pilots Pilot Officer K. C. Rolls (BN348/E), Pilot Officer H. S. Woods (BN473) and Sergeant Wilson (BN358) were safe.
No Bostons were lost during the day.

Between 16:00-17:30, the MC.202 from the 10^o Gruppo were again in the air when six aircraft of the 84^a Squadriglia led by Capitano Franco Lucchini and six of the 90^a Squadriglia led by Capitano Ranieri Piccolomini, covered CR.42s of the 50^o Stormo, following which they were to undertake a free sweep over the El Alamein area. These pilots reported a formation of about 20 fighters, the 84^a Squadriglia claiming two P-40s (one by Capitano Lucchini (MC.202 MM7896/84-8) and one shared between Tenente Berti (MM7803/84-1) and Sergente Corrado Patrizi (MM7789)) shot down and a third probably (Tenente Luigi Giannella (MM7815/84-6)). All MC.202s landed safely at Fuka.

At 12:30 on 9 July, Capitano Franco Lucchini (MM7789/84-5) led 12 MC.202s from the 10^o Gruppo to cover CR.42s active in the Kalakh area. Near El Alamein 12 fighter-bombers were encountered; these were protected by a strong formation of about 35 fighters. Capitano Lucchini and his pilots attacked and claimed a P-40 shared among four of the pilots from 84^a Squadriglia after a 15-minute combat. Claimants in this shared was Lucchini, Sergente Livio Barbera (MM7933/84-10), Tenente Berti (MM7803/84-1) and Domenico Santonocito (MM7805/84-2).
Tenente Giuseppe Ferazzani, a pilot just arrived from Italy, was hit and wounded.
It seems that no Allied fighters were lost in this combat.

In the late afternoon on 15 July, MC.200s of the 13^o Gruppo escorted an S.79 flown by Benito Mussolini personally on a visit to front-line units. During this he awarded the Medaglie d’Argento for outstanding acts of valour in North Africa to Tenente Giorgio Savoia, Tenente Camillo Luglio and Sottotenante Raffaele Velenzano. Several 4^o Stormo pilots were also awarded decorations: notably, Capitano Franco Lucchini, Tenenente Luigi Giannella, Tenente Berti, Maresciallo Leonardo Ferrulli, Tenenente Emanuele Annoni, Sottotenante Alvaro Querci and Tenenente Fernando Malvezzi.

Between 10:35-12:00 on 16 July, Capitano Franco Lucchini (84^a Squadriglia) led ten MC.202s of the 84^a Squadriglia (Sottotenente Luigi Giannella (MM7805/84-2), Sottotenente Berti, Sergente Maggiore Mario Veronesi (MM7928/84-9), Maresciallo Luigi Bignami and Sergente Corrado Patrizi), the 90^a Squadriglia (Capitano Ranieri Piccolomini, Sottotenente Renato Baroni, Sottotenente Sforza Libera, Sergente Maggiore Amleto Monterumici and Sergente Giambattista Ceoletta) and the 91^a Squadriglia (Tenente Paolo Benedicti) to escort CR.42s from the 50^o Gruppo.
With their mission carried out, they intercepted ten Hurribombers over Deir el Qattara flying at 500 m, covered by ten P-40s at 2000 m, 15 P-40s at 5000 m and six Spitfires at 6000 m. A 20-minute running fight followed and the returning Italians claimed four P-40s; Sottotenente Berti and Sergente Maggiore Veronesi one each, one shared by Capitano Lucchini, Sottotenente Giannella, Sottotenente Berti and Tenente Benedicti while the fourth was claimed as a shared by Maresciallo Bignami, Sergente Maggiore Veronesi, Capitano Piccolomini, Sottotenente Baroni and Sergente Maggiore Monterumici. Many others were damaged. Four MC.202s returned damaged and Baroni was wounded in the combat and with his MC.202 damaged, made an emergency landing at El Daba (MM7906/90-8 was later recovered). Bignami (MM7896/84-8) was hit in the wings and on the windscreen. Berti (MM7803/84-1) was attacked by P-40s while returning home, but escaped. Lucchini’s aircraft was hit by five bullets, one of them piercing a fuel tank in left wing root but he was able to land at Qotaifiya, although stunned by fuel vapour (MM7901/84-3 was later recovered). He returned to Fuka in the afternoon in a car.
At 11:10 eight Hurribombers and four fighters of 274 Squadron took off to strafe vehicles, but during this attack two were shot down by Flak. At the same time, other Hurricanes of 213 Squadron took off on a sweep. 33 Squadron was supposed to provide top cover, together with some Spitfires of 601 Squadron, but on take-off from LG 154 Hurricane BP179 and Spitfire V BR479 collided. 19-year-old Canadian Pilot Officer Erle Walter Ollen-Bittle (RCAF no. J/6495) from 33 Squadron and 22-year-old Canadian Flight Sergeant Querino Di Persio (RCAF no. R/76376) from 601 Squadron were both killed. The wreckage then blocked the runway, preventing any further aircraft taking off. Consequently, 213 Squadron was bounced by one MC.202 and one Bf 109, one Hurricane BN378 being shot down at 11:35 and Flight Sergeant John Fernie Cullen Ballantyne (RAF no. 777890) being killed.
At 11:50 1 SAAF and 238 Squadrons took off with 238 Squadron as top cover. At 12:15, four Bf 109s and two MC.202s were seen below but were deemed by the South Africans to be decoys, and were left alone by them. 238 Squadron’s pilots also spotted them, “tally-ho”-ed, and dived straight through 1 SAAF Squadron’s formation to get at them. Several South Africans then peeled off and followed them. “Shambles! ” recorded the squadron diary. 238 Squadron reported that west of El Alamein, Squadron Leader R. G. A. Barclay claimed a Bf 109 and Flight Sergeant G. H. Borham (Hurricane IIb ‘X’) a Macchi probable, but during the return flight Barclay’s Hurricane (‘F’) was attacked and damaged. L. R. S. Waugh (BG764/AX-W) from 1 SAAF Squadron claimed a probable Bf 109F north-west of El Alamein.
Eight Kittyhawks of 250 Squadron on a mission at 11:45 were jumped by four MC.202s at 12:15, one of the British fighters being shot-up when Kittyhawk Ia AK824 was badly damaged south-west of El Alamein but Pilot Officer J. E. Collier returned safely. Sergeant D. W. Cairns (Kittyhawk Ia ET513/A) claimed to have shot down one of the attackers north-west El Mreir.

1 SAAF Squadron took off at 10:05 on 5 August as top cover to 127 Squadron, followed 50 minutes later by 80 Squadron, which provided top cover for the whole formation. Eight Bf 109s reportedly attacked the latter unit near El Alamein, which lost one aircraft which crash-landed; 29-year-old Pilot Officer Peter Douglas Keeping (RAF No. 134508) in Hurricane IIc BP187 was badly wounded and died later in the l8th Field Hospital. Pilot Officer E. Hill (BN870) attacked one fighter, but this turned on him and he was shot down also, carrying out a force-landing. Sergeant Christopher House (BE350) was cut off from the squadron and forced out over the sea by four fighters but managed to return safely, claiming one shot down and one damaged. His Hurricane received Cat. I damaged in the wing during the combat. The South Africans reported that near the end of the patrol a lone MC.202 dived on the squadron and this was claimed to have been damaged by Lieutenant Barry Haynes (Hurricane BP350/Z). It seems that there was some confusion during this engagement as to whether the Axis fighters were Messerschmitts or Macchis - or both. A Kittyhawk Ia was also badly damaged by reportedly MC.202s over El Alamein during the day but Pilot Officer E. G. Aitchison was safe.
After an alarm from the Freya radar in the morning, Capitano Franco Lucchini (CO 84^a Squadriglia) and Capitano Ranieri Piccolomini (CO 90^a Squadriglia) scrambled at 09:40 with twelve MC.202s to intercept bombers. The fighters were radio-guided eastward over the sea, until 20 km from Alexandria, without having found any aircraft. On the way home, they met fifteen Hurricanes and P-40s at 4000 meters in the El Hammam - El Amirya area and attacked them. Capitano Lucchini (MC.202 MM7905), Capitano Piccolomini and Sottotenente Berti (84^a Squadriglia in MM7803/84-1) claimed a P-40 each. A fourth was claimed as a shared between Sergente Natale Molteni (90^a Squadriglia in MM7803), Tenente Luigi Giannella (84^a Squadriglia in MM7815), Sergente Maggiore Domenico Santonocito (84^a Squadriglia in MM7805/84-2), Sergente Maggiore Corrado Patrizi (84^a Squadriglia in MM7919) and Sergente Livio Barbera (84^a Squadriglia in MM7789). Tenente Luigi Giannella also claimed a P-40 as a probable. 10^o Gruppo landed back at 11:20 without suffer any losses in this combat.
Meantime, two Bf 109s of 4./JG 27 had scrambled to intercept 12 bombers and 20 fighters near Alam el Halfa, Oberfeldwebel Karl-Heinz Bendert claiming one P-40 shot down at 10:08.

At 09:08 on 30 August, nine Spitfire Vcs of 92 Squadron flew an offensive sweep over Qattara and El Daba where Pilot Officer W. L. Chisholm (BR474/QJ-V) claimed a Bf 109F while Lieutenant D. C. Hewitson (BR491) claimed a damaged Bf 109. One Spitfire, flown by Pilot Officer Bradley-Smith was badly damaged and crash-landed on return when a wheel did not extend. 92 Squadron landed back at base at 10:33.
It is likely that the unit was actually engaged by MC.202s from the 10^o Gruppo. According to Italian records, at 08:00 Maggiore Giuseppe D’Agostinis (CO 10^o Gruppo) led twelve MC.202s from the 10^o Gruppo on a free sweep sortie over the El Alamein-El Qattara area. A formation of about 15 P-40s was encountered over Deir el Qattara and later another formation of twelve Spitfires and P-40s coming from the north. A 15-minute combat followed, two P-40s being claimed shot down plus a probable and some damaged. Tenente Luigi Giannella (MM7815/84-6) from the 84^a Squadriglia claimed a P-40 over El Alamein while Sergente Maggiore Lorenzo Migliorato (91^a Squadriglia) claimed a second over Deir el Qattara. Tenente Berti (MM7896/84-8) from the 84^a Squadriglia claimed a probable P-40 over El Alamein. MC.202 MM7905/84-4 flown by Sergente Livio Barbera (84^a Squadriglia) was damaged in the combat while Sergente Maggiore Migliorato was attacked by three Spitfires during the return flight and his aircraft (MM7808/91-9) was hit in the radiator. Migliorato recalled:

“After having shot down a P-40 in Deir el Qattara I lost contact with my formation and headed back to Fuka all alone. A few minutes later another Macchi joined me and we flew together at 5,000 metres when we were bounced by three Spitfires that opened fire from about 100 metres. My wingman evaded the attack, but my aircraft was hit in the cooling system and started trailing white smoke. I was ready to bale out when I saw the Spits leaving in a steep left upwards turn. The white trail had been my fortune because they evidently thought I was finished. So I decided to try and get back to our territory. My engine had terrible vibrations but I managed to land safely and got out of the cockpit. Then I noticed that the radiator had been torn away completely by a cannon shell. I sat under a wing hoping to be searched for. All I had was a dozen cigarettes. I stayed there for about nine hours when I sighted a German scout car in a cloud of dust. They had water and chocolate and took me on to El Daba. There I tried to call 4^o Stormo at Fuka but the telephone lines were interrupted due to Allied bombing. So I spent the night in the German camp and next afternoon I managed to notify my comrades that I was still alive.”

In order to support Rommel’s last advance, at 05:25 on 31 August, twenty MC.202s of the 10^o Gruppo took off to strafe three enemy airfields in the Burg el Arab area, 60 km beyond the frontline. The plan was for eight pilots to strafe, while the others were to cover them. The eight pilots were Maggiore Giuseppe D’Agostinis with Capitano Franco Lucchini (CO), Tenente Luigi Giannella, Tenente Ezio Bevilacqua and Sergente Livio Barbera of the 84^a Squadriglia, Capitano Carlo Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa (CO) and Tenente Orlando Mandolini of the 91^a Squadriglia, and Sottotenente Vittorino Daffara of the 97^a Squadriglia, 9^o Gruppo.
During the approach, off El Alamein and at 4000 m over the sea, Giannella saw that Bevilacqua, Lucchini’s wingman, had a water leakage in his cooler. Giannella notified Bevilacqua this by gestures (the Italian Allocchio-Bacchini radios were unreliable) and Bevilacqua turned back. Giannella decided to lead him home, so he gestured to his own wingman, Barbera, to continue to follow the Gruppo. However, Barbera misunderstood this communication, and he too followed Giannella. The engine on Bevilacqua’s fighter sized after a couple of minutes and he and parachuted from 600 m into the sea; he swam westward for three hours and reached the shore seven kilometres inside friendly lines. Unaware of this, Giannella landed at Fuka with Barbera (perhaps mistaking him for Bevilacqua).
With the strafing force reduced to five, Maggiore D’Agostinis went inland well before the target. Sottotenente Berti (84^a Squadriglia) spotted two Spitfires below them, but the enemy fighters didn’t attack. The Italians first strafed the southern airfield, finding only few aircraft but an intense ground fire. Subsequently they attacked the other two fields with three passes, each one from a different direction, managing to make the last pass in northern direction towards the sea, in order to minimize ground reaction. Five Lysanders, five P-40s, three Gladiators, an Albacore and an unidentified monoplane were severely damaged, and a lot of material and trucks was destroyed. British fighters scrambled from Alexandria airfields and tried uneventfully to reach the intruders.
On the return flight, the 10^o Gruppo’s pilots met and attacked two P-40s, one of which was damaged.

At 09:15 on 20 October. Capitano Lucchini to lead four MC.202s of the 84^a Squadriglia and one of the 91^a Squadriglia to face 25 Hurribombers raiding Fuka, covered by 20 P-40s. One Hurribomber was claimed by Tenente Orlando Mandolini (91^a Squadriglia), one P-40 was claimed by Capitano Franco Lucchini and a second P-40 was claimed by Tenente Berti.
The fighters landed again at 10:20

Between 09:00-10:10 on 24 October, Capitano Franco Lucchini (MC.202 MM7919/84-12) led nine MC.202s (three from 84^a Squadriglia and six from 96^a Squadriglia) on a free sweep west of El Alamein. A formation of 25 B-25s, covered by about 40 P-40s, was intercepted, and at the end of a combat lasting 20 minutes one Mitchell and two P-40s were claimed, plus several other damaged. The B-25 was claimed as a shared among six pilots: Capitano Lucchini, Tenente Berti (84^a Squadriglia in MM7805/84-2), Sottotenant Francesco De Seta (84^a Squadriglia in MM7907/91-7), Tenente Emanuele Annoni (96^a Squadriglia), Tenente Anselmo Maggini (96^a Squadriglia) and Sottotenant Alberto Giampaoli (96^a Squadriglia). One shared P-40 was claimed by Capitano Lucchini, Tenente Berti and Sottotenant De Seta while the second P-40 was claimed as a shared by Tenente Annoni, Tenente Maggini and Sottotenant Giampaoli.
Two MC.202s returned early after the pilots had experienced heavy vibrations in the tailplane of their aircraft. Capitano Lucchini crash-landed MM7919/84-12 after being hit in the combat and he was wounded.
The remaining six fighters refuelled as soon as the landed and took off again at 10:30. Led by Tenente Annoni, they again engaged the B-25s and the escort with Sergente Maggiore Bruno Biagini (96^a Squadriglia) claiming one B-25 and one P-40 shot down.

Berti ended the war with 2 shared biplane victories and a total of 2.

After the war, Berti got an engineering degree, and later on he became the CEO of Impregilo, a major Italian Company for building constructions, with bases spread all over the world.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1940
	11/09/40	17:45-	1/19	Blenheim (a)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Sidi Omar - Bardia area	84a Squadriglia
	14/09/40	11:00-	1/15	Blenheim (b)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Sollum area	84a Squadriglia
	1942
	08/06/42	14:20-15:10	1/3	P-40 (c)	Shared destroyed	MC.202	MM7937	Bir Hacheim	84a Squadriglia
	04/07/42	09:30-10:30	1/12	P-40 (d)	Shared destroyed	MC.202		El Alamein area	84a Squadriglia
	04/07/42	09:30-10:30	1	Enemy fighter (d)	Damaged	MC.202		El Alamein area	84a Squadriglia
	04/07/42	16:00-17:30	1/2	P-40 (e)	Shared destroyed	MC.202	MM7803/84-1	El Alamein area	84a Squadriglia
	09/07/42	12:30-14:00	1/4	P-40 (f)	Shared destroyed	MC.202	MM7803/84-1	El Alamein	84a Squadriglia
1	16/07/42	10:35-12:00	1	P-40 (g)	Destroyed	MC.202	MM7803/84-1	Deir el Qattara area	84a Squadriglia
	16/07/42	10:35-12:00	1/4	P-40 (g)	Shared destroyed	MC.202	MM7803/84-1	Deir el Qattara area	84a Squadriglia
2	05/08/42	09:40-11:20	1	P-40 (h)	Destroyed	MC.202	MM7803/84-1	El Hammam - El Amirya	84a Squadriglia
	05/08/42	08:00-09:35	1	P-40 (i)	Probably destroyed	MC.202	MM7896/84-8	El Alamein	84a Squadriglia
3	20/10/42	09:15-10:20	1	P-40	Destroyed	MC.202	MM7896/84-8	Fuka	84a Squadriglia
	24/10/42	09:00-10:10	1/3	P-40	Shared destroyed	MC.202	MM7805/84-2	W El Alamein	84a Squadriglia
	24/10/42	09:00-10:10	1/6	B-25	Shared destroyed	MC.202	MM7805/84-2	W El Alamein	84a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 2 shared destroyed.
TOTAL: 3 and 9 shared destroyed, 1 probably destroyed, 1 damaged.
(a) This claim can’t be verified with RAF sources.
(b) This clam can’t be verified with RAF records.
(c) Probably claimed in combat with Tomahawks from 4 and 5 SAAF Squadrons, which claimed 2 damaged while getting 1 P-40 damaged. The 10^o Gruppo claimed 3 P-40s and 1 probable without losses.
(d) Claimed in combat with at least Hurricanes from 33 Squadron, which claimed 1 and 2 probable MC.202s while losing 1 Hurricane (pilot KiA) and getting 3 more damaged. 10^o Gruppo claimed 4 fighters, 2 probables and at least 4 damaged without losses.
(e) Not verified with Allied records.
(f) This claim can’t be verified with Allied records.
(g) Claimed in combat with fighters from 213, 238, 250 and 1 SAAF Squadrons, which claimed 2 destroyed and 2 probables while losing 1 Hurricane (pilot KIA) and getting 2 fighters damaged. 10^o Gruppo claimed 4 fighters destroyed while suffering 4 damaged MC.202s.
(h) Claimed in combat with Hurricanes from 1 SAAF and 80 Squadrons and Kittyhawks from 260 Squadron, which lost 2 Hurricanes and got 1 more Hurricane and 1 Kittyhawk damaged while claiming 1 enemy fighter destroyed, 1 probably and 4 damaged. 10^o Gruppo and 4./JG 27 claimed 5 P-40s and 1 probably without losses.
(i) Claimed in combat with Spitfire Vcs from 92 Squadron, which claimed 1 fighter and 1 damaged while losing 1 fighter. 10^o Gruppo claimed 2 P-40s and 1 probable while losing 1 MC.202 and 1 damaged.

Sources:
A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945: Volume Two – Christopher Shores and Giovanni Massimello with Russell Guest, Frank Olynyk & Winfried Bock, 2012 Grub Street, London, ISBN-13: 9781909166127
Desert Prelude: Early clashes June-November 1940 - Håkan Gustavsson and Ludovico Slongo, 2010 MMP books, ISBN 978-83-89450-52-4
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
Elenco Nominativo dei Militari dell' A. M. Decorati al V. M. Durante it Periodo 1929 - 1945 2 Volume M - Z
Malta: The Spitfire Year 1942 - Christopher Shores and Brian Cull with Nicola Malizia, 1991 Grub Street, London, ISBN 0-948817-16-X
Quelli del Cavallino Rampante - Antonio Duma, Stato Maggiore dell'Aeronautica Ufficio Storico, Roma
Additional info kindly provided by Manuel de Benedetti and Ludovico Slongo.