Ottorino Fargnoli was born on 27 December 1907 and was from Cassino (Frosinone).

On 1 October 1932, he was commissioned (in Servizio Permanente Effettivo).

Capitano Rolando Pratelli left the command of the 364^a Squadriglia, 150^o Gruppo, in May 1937 when Capitano Fargnoli took command of the unit.

Capitano Fargnoli left the command of the 364^a Squadriglia, 150^o Gruppo, in February 1938 when Capitano Luigi Filippi took command of the unit.

He served as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War.

In February 1939 the 3^o Stormo was under the command of Colonello Fortunato Rolando and equipped with Fiat CR.32s (complemented with a Ca.133 to each squadriglia for transports). The Stormo consisted of two Gruppi; 23^o and 18^o.
The 23^o Gruppo was commanded by Maggiore Tito Falconi and based at Mirafori. The squadriglia commanders were Capitano Fargnoli (70^a Squadriglia), Capitano Guido Bobba (74^a Squadriglia) and Capitano Luigi Filippi (75^a Squadriglia).
18^o Gruppo was commanded by Maggiore Ferruccio Vosilla and based at Mondov . The squadriglia commanders were Capitano Edoardo Molinari (83^a Squadriglia), Capitano Giulio Anelli (85^a Squadriglia) and Capitano Gino Lodi (95^a Squadriglia).
In October 1939 the 23^o Gruppo started to re-equip with Fiat CR.42s and from November the 18^o Gruppo did the same.

When the war started on 10 June 1940 the 3^o Stormo was sent to the French border to take part in the attacks on southern France.

Fargnoli took part in the big attack on French airfields on 15 June.

On 9 July the 23^o Gruppo became Autonomo.
At this time Fargnoli served as commander of the 75^a Squadriglia .

On 12 July the recently arrived 9^o Gruppo C.T. was ordered to leave Sicily and fly on to Libya, to operate in the desert. To replace the unit two new gruppi of fighter flew in to Sicily, the autonomous 23^o and the 17^o from 1^o Stormo C.T.
The 23^o Gruppo flew its first escort missions over Malta the same day.

On 13 July 1940 eleven CR.42 of 23^o Gruppo led by the unit commander Maggiore Tito Falconi made a reconnaissance sortie over Malta s principal ports. During the sortie the unit claimed two Hurricanes shot down. One was claimed by Capitano Guido Bobba and the other was claimed by Capitano Ottorino Fargnoli and Capitano Antonio Chiodi with Sergente Maggiore Celso Zemella and Sergente Maggiore Renzo Bocconi. Their opponents at this occasion had in fact been a single Hurricane and a Gladiator flown by Flight Lieutenant George Burges who had been on readiness when the order to scramble came at around 0200. The Hurricane (P2653), flown by Pilot Officer Dick Sugden of the Hal Far Fighter Flight, was only damaged during the engagement.

At sunset on 24 November, six CR.42s of the 23^o Gruppo C.T. from Comiso attacked the airfield of Luqa (called Mikabba by the Italians) on Malta. The pilots participating in the attack had been selected among the best of the unit (Maggiore Tito Falconi (Gruppo CO), Tenente Claudio Solaro, Capitano Guido Bobba (CO 74^a Squadriglia), Capitano Fargnoli (CO 70^a Squadriglia), Tenente Ezio Maria Monti and Sottotenente Domenico Tessera). They strafed from very low altitude, claiming one plane in flames for sure and additional damage. Back at base, the Italian War Bulletin credited them of three ground victories. They had in fact managed to burn Wellington F of 38 Squadron (the machine of Pilot Officer Timmins) in transit from Marham to Egypt, and according to post war British studies, they had possibly destroyed an additional machine of 148 Squadron. During the return journey, Tenente Monti became disoriented while escaping the attentions of a British night fighter and used all its fuel before reaching Comiso, being obliged to bale out over Stagnone di Marsala.
Pilot Officer Timmins was immediately sent back to England to collect a replacement machine.

Fargnoli was promoted to Maggiore on 8 June 1942.

In 1943, he served in the Accademia Aeronautica (Scuola Pilotaggio).

Fargnoli ended the war with 1 shared biplane victory.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1940
	13/07/40		1	Hurricane (a)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Malta	75a Squadriglia
	24/11/40	sunset	1/6	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Luqa	70a Squadriglia
	24/11/40	sunset	1/6	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Luqa	70a Squadriglia
	24/11/40	sunset	1/6	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Luqa	70a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 1 shared destroyed, 3 shared destroyed on the ground.
TOTAL: 1 shared destroyed3 shared destroyed on the ground.
(a) Two Hurricanes claimed destroyed by Regia Aeronautica. Only one Hurricane (P2653), flown by Pilot Officer Dick Sugden of the Hal Far Fighter Flight, was damaged during the engagement.
(b) The 23^o Gruppo claimed three destroyed on the ground but only one Wellington of 148 Squadron was destroyed.

Sources:
3^o Stormo, storia fotografica - Dai biplani agli aviogetti - C. Lucchini and E. Leproni, 1990 Gino Rossato Editore
53^o Stormo - Marco Mattioli, 2010 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-84603-977-5
Annuario Ufficiale Delle Forze Armate Del Regno D Italia Anno 1943. Part III Regia Aeronautica 1943 Istituto Poligrafico Dello Stato, Roma
Elenco Nominativo dei Militari dell’ A. M. Decorati al V. M. Durante it Periodo 1929 - 1945 1 Volume A - L
Hurricanes over Malta - Brian Cull and Frederick Galea, 2001 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-91-8
Malta: The Hurricane Years 1940-41 - Christopher Shores and Brian Cull with Nicola Malizia, 1987 Grub Street, London, ISBN 0-89747-207-1
Additional information kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo.