Bernardino Serafini was born on 27 April 1909 and was from Serrungarina (Pesaro).

On 22 September 1934, he was commissioned (in Servizio Permanente Effettivo).

Serafini took part in the Spanish Civil War. During his time in Spain, he used the nom de guerre ”Del Pelo”.

In the afternoon on 27 October, Sottotenente Adriano Mantelli of the 1^a Escuadrilla de Caza del Tercio and his wingmen attacked a formation of five unescorted Breguet XIXs between Peguerinos and El Escorial. Sottotenente Mantelli claimed one of the Breguets and shared in the destruction of three others with Sergente Maggiore Serafini and Sergente Raul Galli.
Sergente Galli’s CR.32 was hit by return fire, however, severing its aileron control lines. Nevertheless, Galli managed to nurse his damaged fighter back to Ávila and perform an uneventful landing, in spite of the fighter’s poor handling.
All four of the aircraft destroyed belonged to the last Republican unit to be equipped with the Breguet XIX on the Madrid front, Escuadrilla Gonzalez, as the rest had been decimated by the all-conquering CR.32. The commander of this unit, capitán Gonzalez Martin, had in fact been flying the first aircraft to be shot down on this day. He and another pilot, and their respective rear gunners, all lost their lives, while the remaining two crews survived emergency landings in Republican territory. The one surviving Breguet XIX returned home to Alcalá de Henares with only the pilot on board, as the gunner, Ramos, had taken to his parachute over the Republican zone near El Escorial in the belief that his aircraft was falling out of the sky following the apparent death of his pilot! It was Ramos who had hit Galli’s fighter, forcing him to break off his attack.

On 6 November, two air battles took place, at 10:00 and 14:00. In the latter, five Fiats led by capitán Ángel Salas attacked seven ”Chatos” and claimed four victories even if only two claims could be confirmed by ground observers. Salas was thought to have destroyed one machine from a patrol of three, this aircraft trailing smoke as it veered into a cloud and disappeared from sight. Sottotenente Giuseppe Cenni, Tenente Vittor Ugo Ceccherelli and Sottotenente Serafini claimed an I-15 each over the Madrid area.
One of the aircraft destroyed was the I-15 flown by leitenant Voronov, who died two days later in hospital from injuries suffered when he crash-landed upon his return to base.
The Nationalist bulletin claimed two aircraft destroyed, while the Government bulletin, which referred only to the earlier engagement, claimed the destruction of two Heinkels, these two most probably claimed by starshiy leitenant Pavel Rychagov, who claimed two enemy aircraft during the day, but it also possible that one of them was claimed by Karp Kovtun (3^a Escuadrilla) who seem to have claimed a victory during the day (according to some sources this was claimed by ramming and thus probably on 13 November when he was killed).
Bonomi confirmed that the Fiats had shot down two fighters, and this was also confirmed by the Air Force communiqué, which admitted the loss of a Fiat and a Junkers. This latter machine was probably flown by Captain Larrauri, who managed to reach Talavera with one engine out of action, the other developing only restricted power, and his aircraft riddled with bullet holes. Von Morau, leader of the Pablos y Pedros squadron, also had to force-land near Madrid at this time.

On the morning on 15 November, 15 CR.32s provided the fighter escort for bombers attacking targets in Madrid. As they neared the city, four I-16s led by Leitenant Sergey Chernykh (Escuadrilla Kolesnikov) attacked the Italian section consisting of Sottotenenti Serafini and Giuseppe Cenni and Sergente Berretta. All three pilots ably defended themselves and collectively shot down an I-16 piloted by Vladimir N. Vzorov (’Jose Zoro’), who destroyed his fighter when he crash-landed into an olive grove.
The Russian pilots reported nine I-16s took off to intercept Ju 52/3m bombers, escorted by fighters, heading for Madrid. Leitenant Sergey Denisov (’Ramon’) and Leitenant Chernykh (’Garcia’) each reported downing an enemy fighter.
It is possible that one CR.32 was lost since it was reported that the body of a Nationalist pilot was found at the outskirts of Madrid.

On 3 December1936, Tenente Corrado Ricci and Serafini claimed a shared Martin bomber (SB) over Madrid.
Neither Republican nor Nationalist records can verify this claim with certainty.

3^a Squadriglia took part in the battles around Madrid, including the Battle of Jarama in February 1937, and the Battle of Guadaljara in March.

When the Nationalist attack on the Basque Country began in the end of March 1937, I Gruppo was moved north and 3^a Squadriglia was stationed at Vitoria.
The 3^a Squadriglia was commanded by Capitano Mario Viola (”Viotti”) who led the 1st Flight of five aircraft (with reserve pilots) usually including Tenente Luigi Mariotti, Ottorinio Cappellini, Giannoti (”Vitullo”), Curilli, Sartori and Romagnoli.
The 2nd Flight was led by Tenente Corrado Ricci and usually included (with reserve pilots) Tenente Giuseppe Mollo, Sergente Maggiore Guido Presel, Sergente Maggiore Brunetto di Montegnacco, Eugenio Salvi, Aldo Galadini, Serafini and Guido Pongiluppi.

In April 1937, XVI Gruppo ”Cucaracha” was formed and included 24^a (formerly 4^a), 25^a (formerly 5^a) and 26^a (formerly 2^a) Squadriglie.

During the attack on the Basque town of Guernica on 26 April at least the 2nd Flight and possibly also the first provided escort to the German bombers when they left the target area in the afternoon and evening.

In July 1938, Tenente Serafini took command of the 366^a Squadriglia, 151^o Gruppo, after Capitano Andrea Favini, who had commanded the unit from February 1937.

He was promoted to Capitano on 12 February 1940.

On the last day of August 1940, the 151^o Gruppo C.T. (366^a, 367^a and 368^a Squadriglie) was ordered to move in Libya with 30 CR.42s as a reinforcement for the attack against Sidi Barrani.
The unit under the command of Maggiore Carlo Calosso was one of the first equipped with CR.42s in 1939 and was based in Caselle Torinese near Turin, with sections and Squadriglie detached in different airbases of North Italy for local defence duties.
They departed Caselle Torinese in the morning of 6 September and at 18:20 on 8 September, the whole Gruppo landed in Tripoli Castel Benito.
The 366^a Squadriglia formation was composed of ten aircraft: Capitano Serafini (CO), Tenente Mario Ferrero (the Gruppo Adjutant), Sottotenente Amedeo Guidi, Maresciallo Giulio Cesare, Sergente Maggiore Fiorenzo Milella, Sergente Maggiore Dino Carta, Sergente Maggiore Roberto Marchi, Sergente Maggiore Cesare Chiarmetta, Sergente Antonio Camerini, Sergente Eugenio Cicognani. Tenente Piero Veneziani and Maresciallo Giovanni Accorsi followed in the unit’s hack Caproni Ca.133 together with five ground personnel.
The formation of 367^a Squadriglia comprised the Gruppo Commander Maggiore Carlo Calosso, the 368^a Squadriglia’s pilot Sergente Piero Hosquet and nine other pilots for a total of eleven. Among them were Capitano Simeone Marsan (the CO), Tenente Irzio Bozzolan, Tenente Aldo Bonuti, Sergente Maggiore Gino Bogoni and Sergente Tolmino Zanarini. The Squadriglia’s other six pilots were Tenente Giuseppe Costantini, Maresciallo Bruno Castellani, Sergente Maggiore Rodolfo Benco, Sergente Maggiore Bruno Celotto, Sergente Renato Mingozzi and Sergente Maggiorino Soldati.
The 368^a Squadriglia formation was composed of nine aircraft: Capitano Bruno Locatelli (CO), Tenente Giuseppe Zuffi, Sottotenente Furio Lauri, Sergente Maggiore Davide Colauzzi, Sergente Maggiore Annibale Ricotti, Sergente Maggiore Alvise Andrich, Sergente Stefano Fiore, Sergente Ottorino Ambrosi, Sergente Mario Turchi. Tenente Orfeo Paroli and Maresciallo Guido Paparatti followed in the Ca.133 of the Squadriglia (Paroli and Fiore were just transferred from 367^a Squadriglia).
On 25 September the 151^o Gruppo transferred from Benghazi to El Adem where it replaced the 9^o Gruppo C.T.

After some days of inactivity due to the incessantly blowing Ghibli wind, a big coordinated Italian action against Mersa Matruh was planned for 31 October. It was planned to use at least 50 SM 79s from the 9^o Stormo, 14^o Stormo and 33^o Gruppo with an escort of 40 CR.42s from the 2^o Stormo and 151^o Gruppo to attack the British base and its different targets.
At 10:10, Menastir M was attacked by British bombers reported as ten Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys (in fact seven Blenheims from 55 Squadron and three from 84 Squadron). The bombers arrived from a northerly direction completely undetected and hit the parking area of the 93^a Squadriglia with many small and medium calibre bombs launched from 3000 metres. The Squadriglia HQ hut was completely destroyed by a direct hit while four CR.42s were lightly damaged by splinters (RS) and one was heavily damaged (RD). The heavy damaged CR.42 was immediately taken to the S.R.A.M. of El Adem (according to other sources the RD Fiats were three and the RS Fiats were two). Luckily no losses were suffered by the personnel of 8^o Gruppo.
At 10:15 (09:40 according with other sources), while the 9^o Stormo formation was taxiing on Gambut airstrip, a formation of seven Blenheims from 211 Squadron led by Squadron Leader Gordon-Finlayson and two others from 84 Squadron suddenly appeared overhead. The British bombers had managed to approach undetected by gliding down from 3000 metres with turned off engines and bombed with extreme precision, destroying three bombers while three others remained RD, and many others were less seriously damaged. Heavy were also the losses among 9^o Stormo’s personnel, with two dead among 63^a Squadriglia (Sergente Armiere Carlo Marchi and Primo Aviere Radiotelegrafista Eugenio Bonino).
Three fighters of the resident 82^a Squadriglia scrambled after the bombers had turned on their Mercury engines. They were flown by Sottotenente Virgilio Vanzan, Sergente Maggiore Dante Davico and Sergente Nino Campanini but they were unable to intercept.
Three fighters of the 78^a Squadriglia also scrambled at 10:00. These were flown by Tenente Ippolito Lalatta, Sottotenente Luigi Cannepele and Sergente Ernesto Taddia. These were also unsuccessful, and they landed back at base at 10:45.
Sergente Maggiore Roberto Marchi and Sottotenente Carlo Albertini of the 366^a Squadriglia scrambled from the nearby Amseat A3 for the British bombers. While in pursuit an enemy fighter, identified as a Hurricane, crossed the path of Albertini, who spent 420 rounds on it. The aircraft escaped smoking heavily and Albertini, who landed at 10:45, was credited with a probable victory.
At 10:25, three CR.42s from 92^a Squadriglia, 8^o Gruppo, scrambled from Menastir M. The three fighters were flown by Sottotenente Luigi Uguccioni Sergente, Mario Veronesi and Sergente Marcello Mosele. Veronesi intercepted a Hurricane which he claimed damaged with 150 rounds of ammunition. The three aircraft returned to base at 10:45.
It seems that both scrambles from 366^a and 92^a Squadriglie had been involved in combat with Hurricanes escorting the British bombers and in fact, 80 Squadron had put up eight Gladiators and two Hurricanes between 9.00 and 11.00 to patrol off Bardia at 15,000 feet and to cover bombers attacking Menastir and a target 38 miles west of Bardia (Gambut). The returning pilots didn’t report any encounter with Italian aircraft while returning 211 Squadron crews reported that an Italian CR.42 tried to follow them but after firing two bursts from 500 yards was set upon by a Gladiator and a Hurricane and last seen diving towards the ground with smoke trailing from it.
The Italian mission against Mersa Matruh was not cancelled and at 10:50 only ten SM 79s of 9^o Stormo (that in the original intentions were to constitute the bulk of the formation) took off together with 11 SM 79s of the 14^o Stormo and five from the 33^o Gruppo. The bombers were escorted by 18 CR.42s from the 13^o Gruppo, which flew as close escort, and 18 more from the 151^o Gruppo, which was to fly an indirect support sweep.
At 11:45 two sections with six CR.42s of the 78^a Squadriglia took off from Gambut G with Capitano Giuseppe Dall’Aglio leading Sottotenente Luigi Cannepele (a future posthumously Medaglia d’oro al valor militare winner and inspirer of the famous “Gigi tre osei” symbol of the 150^o Gruppo C.T.), Sergente Rovero Abbarchi, Tenente Ippolito Lalatta (leading the second section), Sergente Ernesto Taddia and Sergente Teresio Martinoli. They were followed at 11:55 by two sections from the 82^a Squadriglia. The first section included Tenente Guglielmo Chiarini (section leader), Sottotenente Giuseppe Timolina and Sergente Maggiore Dante Davico while the second section included Tenente Gianfranco Perversi (section leader), Sergente Francesco Nanin and Sottotenente Virgilio Vanzan. Together with these six CR.42s, six more of the 77^a Squadriglia took off with Capitano Domenico Bevilacqua leading Tenente Eduardo Sorvillo, Sottotenente Carmelo Catania, Sergente Maggiore Ernesto Scalet, Sergente Ernesto Paolini and Sergente Renato Gori. Capitano Giuseppe Dall’Aglio took command of the whole formation.
For the 151^o Gruppo this was the first long range escort mission since arriving in Libya and they received the order to move at 11:00 and at 12:10 they took off from Amseat A3 to arrive over Mersa Matruh at the same time as the bombers. Participating pilots were from all three Squadriglie - 366^a Squadriglia (Capitano Serafini, Tenente Mario Ferrero, Tenente Piero Veneziani, Sergente Maggiore Fiorenzo Milella, Sergente Maggiore Roberto Marchi and Sergente Rosario Di Carlo), 367^a Squadriglia (Capitano Simeone Marsan, Sergente Maggiore Renato Mingozzi, Sergente Maggiorino Soldati, Tenente Irzio Bozzolan, Sergente Maggiore Gino Bogoni and Sergente Bruno Celotto) and 368^a Squadriglia (Capitano Bruno Locatelli, Sergente Maggiore Davide Colauzzi, Sergente Mario Turchi, Tenente Giuseppe Zuffi, Sergente Piero Hosquet and Sergente Ottorino Ambrosi).
The bombers gathered over Tmimi and then headed east in groups of five in arrow formations. The fighters from the 13^o Gruppo flew in flights of three in echelon right formation at 5000 meters, directed to a rendezvous point 20 kilometres south-west of Mersa Matruh along the road that connected this base with Bir Kenayis, which they reached at 12:56.
After the bombers arrived over Mersa Matruh, each formation went for different targets but was attacked by British fighters while aiming for their targets.
At 12:46, the 14^o Stormo, led by Tenente Colonnello Lidonici, attacked the airfield of Bir Kenayis but finding it empty they headed for an alternative target of enemy troops south-west of Mersa Matruh, who were hit at 13:01. In fact, 80 Squadron pilots on the ground noticed Italian bombers attacking the aerodrome of Bir Kenayis at 12:45 and reported that bombs fell to the south-west and some distance away, obviously they thought that the Savoias had missed their intended target of some miles. Gunners of the 14^o Stormo claimed two Hurricanes and a Gladiator destroyed, and another Gladiator probable. One SM 79 crash-landed near Sidi Barrani and was written off while a second crash-landed in the desert near Tobruk and was also written off. Three more SM 79s returned at 14:40 so badly damaged that they were classified RD, and another one went to the SRAM for major repairs. Among the crews there were three dead (Sottotenente pilota-puntatore (pilot aimer) Federico Tonizzo, Primo Aviere Montatore Mario Padalino, Primo Aviere Armiere Guerino Invorti) and two wounded (Tenente Beltramini (another aimer) and Tenente Martinelli (observer)). Of its 11 SM 79s, in the evening only five were still fit for further operations.
At 12:55 the 9^o Stormo, led by Tenente Colonnello Italo Napoleoni, released its bombs on the railway near El Qasaba airfield. The diarist of 6 Squadron noted that Quasaba had been bombed at 13:05 by five Savoia SM 79s, dropping approximately 30-40 100kg bombs and that no casualties nor damage had been suffered by the Squadron’s detachment while the diarist of 208 Squadron reported that around 40 bombs of the 100kg type were dropped by 15 SM 79s and that four of them fell in the camp damaging three lorries and three tents while the remainder fell around the railway siding. Two SM 79s from the 11^a Squadriglia, 26^o Gruppo B.T. were shot down. The Squadriglia flew in a ‘V’ formation led by Tenente Giovanni Ruggiero and it was the two outer SM 79s that were shot down in flames by a Hurricane (Sottotenente Fulvio Fabiani, Sergente Arturo Bigliardi, Primo Aviere Fotografo Adorno Antonini, Primo Aviere Motorista Francesco Farina and Primo Aviere Armiere Vincenzo Scarinci) (Tenente Roberto Di Frassineto, Sergente Maggiore Armando Zambelli, Aviere Scelto Motorista Camillo Caiazzo, Primo Aviere Armiere Alfredo Pacifici and Aviere Scelto Radiotelegrafista Giuseppe Costa); all but Zambelli (POW) were killed. In an aircraft of the 13^a Squadriglia was Primo Aviere Motorista Tommaso Giorgio killed and Aviere Scelto RT Canaponi was wounded by Hurricane bullets.

Primo Aviere Motorista Francesco Farina (right) killed when the SM.79 piloted by Sottotenente Fulvio Fabiani was shot down on 31 October 1940.
Farina was born on 11 February 1917 and was originally from Ostuni (Brindisi).
He trained in the Corso Normale Motoristi Aeronautica held at the R. Scuola ind. G.L Bernini, in Naples from June 1937 to January 1938.
In 1941, he was decorated with a posthumous Medaglia di bronzo al valor militare.
Image kindly provided by Valeria Panzetta.

A gunner in the SM 79 to the left of Tenente Ruggiero, at the time 22-years-old Aviere Scelto Armiere Cherubino Mariotti recalled, of this his first combat mission:

"On 31 October 1940 I was on a S79, first left wingmen of a five planes formation that was attacked by British fighters after bombing enemy troops near Mersa Matruh. We, gunners, were returning fire when I noticed that the two end wingmen of our formation were hit and were losing height in flames. Suddenly I centred in my gun sight a Hurricane that was closing to the last three planes shooting continuously at us. Arrived at the distance suitable to start the “famous” turn that permit it to fan with its eight guns its target, I was able to aim at its belly and saw my tracers entering it. Obviously hit, the plane directed towards the ground leaving a thick cloud of black smoke. In this way I avenged the ten dear friends lost in the two planes fell in flames.”

“It was 31 October 1940, I was hospitalised in Derna infirmary when I heard that we were going to start for an important bombing mission. Today it can seem a bit excessive all the enthusiasm with which we wanted to take part in war missions, but twenty years old and with the high spirit of those days all seemed normal for us. I left the infirmary and reached the Squadriglia. When my Commander Capitano Giovanni Ruggiero asked me how I felt I told him: “Perfectly and I’m ready to start” [in fact, Tenente Ruggiero wasn’t promoted to Capitano until 15 November 1940].
My crew was composed by: Tenente Di Frassineto, me, Primo Aviere Fotografo Antonini, Primo Aviere Motorista Stramccioni and Aviere Scelto Armiere Costa [Strangely enough, Zambelli here quotes among his crew, a member of the crew of Sottotenente Fabiani and an airman: Stramaccioni that neither is recorded among the casualties of 9^o Stormo in WWII]. The action was one of the most important of the war so far and our forces were fifty S 79s with the escort of forty fighters started from an airstrip near Derna [It appears that the 9^o Stormo was divided in two formations - one from the 26^o Gruppo (11^a and 13^a Squadriglie), which started from Derna and the other from the 29^o Gruppo (62^a and 63^a Squadriglie), which was surprised by the Blenheims at Gambut and was prevented to take part in the action] and after around an hour of flight we arrived over the airbase of Matruh.
Our section was composed by five planes disposed in arrow formation under command of Capitano Ruggero. We were almost on the target when a hand on my shoulder made me turning the head. It was the Motorista that told me that we were attacked by enemy fighters of which we had already shot down one [the aircraft claimed by Mariotti], sadly the Hurricanes and Gloster Gladiators from a superior height continued to fire without respite and after a short while I saw the end wingman opposite to my position falling in flames; pilots were Tenente Fabiani from Rome and Sergente Bigliardi from Bologna. We succeeded in bombing the target but following another enemy’s burst of fire our plane started to burn and being made of wood and fabric it burned like a wax match.
I told the members of the crew to bale out but without avail because they tried to fight the fire. Enemy bullets continued to enter the plane and I saw the poor crewmembers hit by the bullets and reached by the flames. We decided to leave the plane, I opened the exit door on the top of the cockpit and immediately air suction threw me against the tail of the plane that was burning; I lost consciousness and I woke up when the parachute opened. I was descending under the area where our CR 42s and the Hurricanes were fighting. Moving my legs I tried to move towards the land to avoid falling into the sea but in that moment I lost consciousness again. When I woke up for the second time I was on a British vehicle between a bearded Shik driver and an English officer that pointed his gun on me. I was taken to the infirmary because I was burned in the face and in the hands and had a dislocated ankle; there I was left resting for a while. Subsequently I was examined by a General that told me that he was Canadian and that he had fought as our alley during the First World War [Raymond Collishaw!]. He asked me, in an approximate Italian, if in Italy we thought that they killed the aviators that jumped with the parachute. […].”

“Immediately after the bomb release a hard attack of Hurricanes […] immediately the plane took 116 hits […] one wing damaged, engines nacelles damaged, flaps and empennages damaged, bomb bay damaged, the three propellers hit, […] 1^o Aviere Motorista Tommaso Giorgio, that was shooting back with the gun in the “hunk” died, […] his place was taken by Aviere Scelto Marconista Canaponi but after a short while he was wounded too […] finally Primo Aviere Fotografo Marcucci took the gun […].”

Eight Italian Planes Down – Air Battle over Mersa Matruh. Cairo, Saturday.

It was announced from Headquarters, RAF, Middle East on Friday, that a large force of enemy bombers (SM 79s) escorted by a dozen fighters (CR 42s) attempted an attack on targets in the Mersa Matruh area yesterday. Fighter aircraft of the RAF immediately engaged the enemy. In the ensuing battle, four SM 79s were shot down and four CR.42s were destroyed. In addition, four more enemy aircraft were so damaged that it is unlikely that they returned to their base. During the battle, two of our fighter aircraft collided, but the pilots landed safely by parachute. One of our fighters was shot down and one, which was last seen engaging three SM 79s making for home, has so far not returned to its base.

“On 31 October, two S 79s of 11^a Squadriglia failed to return from a bombing action done at 12.57 over enemy positions.
Crew chief of one of those planes was Tenente Di Frassineto.
It seems that coming back from the action the two planes were attacked by numerous enemy planes, together with them other eight planes of the same Gruppo; the two S 79s were seen to fall near Mersa Matruh, one of them presumably hit by the AA fire.
The other crewmembers were Sergente Maggiore Armando Zambelli, Aviere Scelto Motorista Camillo Caiazzo, Primo Aviere Armiere Alfredo Pacifici, Aviere Scelto Radiotelegrafista Giuseppe Costa.
All this personnel until now is considered missing in action.
We already started the procedures on the Red Cross, necessary to know the names of possible prisoners.”

“Indirect protection in the sky over the target was not reliable for the protection of big formations of S79s (…) so, it happened that the S79 had to fight hardly (…) while the fighters, in areas far from the fighting, (…) didn’t do nothing!”.

At 10:50 on 9 December, a formation of six CR.42s from the 366^a Squadriglia (Capitano Serafini, Tenente Piero Veneziani, Sottotenente Amedeo Guidi, Maresciallo Giovanni Accorsi, Sergente Maggiore Roberto Marchi and Sergente Eugenio Cicognani) was ordered to attack enemy vehicles in the area between Bir Enba and Buq-Buq.
Over the target, Capitano Serafini dived down and attacked, followed by the other five Fiats in line astern. All made six low-level filing passes, and the pilots claimed an armoured car in flames and thirty other vehicles damaged. AA fire was reported as ineffective, and they landed at 11:55.

In February the 366^a Squadriglia was based at Sorman in Libya.

73 Squadron continued to carry out missions throughout 1 February, 18 Hurricanes in all were despatched but no further Italian aircraft were encountered until late afternoon. At 17:30, Sergeant Marshall (TP-P) and Sergeant W. C. Wills (V7544/TP-S) were strafing an Italian convoy near Cyrene when they encountered seven CR.42s and Wills claimed one of them destroyed south-west of Cyrene.
The Italian aircraft were seven CR.42s of the 366^a Squadriglia that had taken off at 16:00 to carry out a reconnaissance of the El Mechili-Apollonia area. Tenente Guglielmo Chiarini and Sergente Maggiore Roberto Marchi flew the mission at low altitude, while Capitano Serafini, Tenente Mario Ferrero, Sottotenente Amedeo Guidi, Sergente Maggiore Dino Carta and Sergente Rosario Di Carlo covered them from higher altitude. Together with them was also Sergente Ernesto De Bellis from the 368^a Squadriglia.
Near Apollonia, Chiarini and Marchi surprised and machine-gunned two Hurricanes, which were ground-strafing Italian troops. The two Hawkers escaped but Serafini jumped them again from higher altitude, claiming one shot down. The surviving Hurricane was again hit and damaged by Serafini and Sergente Maggiore Carta, who just arrived on the scene. The Italian formation was back at base at 18:20 even if Sergente Rosario Di Carlo ran out of fuel and force-landed before reaching the base.

On 12 February 1941, the last 12 airworthy CR.42s of the 151^o Gruppo were pulled out of the frontline and sent west to Sorman airfield, on the Libyan coast. Here the unit was placed under the command of Tenente Colonnello Raffaele Colacicchi, who had taken over from Maggiore Calosso in the December when the latter stood down due to ill health. The three squadriglie commanders were Capitano Serafini (366^a), Capitano Simeone Marsan (367^a) and Tenente Giuseppe Zuffi (368^a).

On 31 July 1941, the 151^o Gruppo's first operational tour in North Africa ended.

Once back in Italy, the 151^o Gruppo was deployed to Treviso airfield, where it flew CR.42s and MC.200s.

Serafini was still the commanding officer of the 366^a Squadriglia in May 1941. The unit was at this time based Mellaha.

After a short spell in Sardinia, the unit was ordered back to Africa on 18 November 1941, reaching Agedabia airfield on 25 November.

Nine CR.42s of the 151^o Gruppo (four from the 366^a Squadriglia and five of the 367^a Squadriglia) took off from Agedabia at 15:15 on 26 November to escort CR.42 fighter bombers of the 160^o Gruppo that were to attack the enemy’s motorised troop transports near the Oasis of Augila (Gialo area). One the CR.42s of the 160^o Gruppo had reached the target, they dropped their bombs and went down to strafe the enemy vehicles.
Two 33 Squadron Hurricanes patrolling the area spotted the fighter bombers. Pilot Officer D. S. F. 'Bill' Winsland dived down for an attack but was immediately intercepted and shot down by the patrol from the 366^a Squadriglia. The Hurricane went down in flames while Winsland (a veteran of the fighting in Greece and the Desert) parachuted. Flying Officer Clostre was also attacked and forced to abort his attack.
The Italian pilots thought that they had shot down both Hurricanes and were thus credited with both; the first was credited to Capitano Serafini and Sergente Maggiore Antonio Camerini and the second to Tenente Amedeo Guidi and Maresciallo Paolo Montanari. 250 rounds had been fired.
The pilots of the 367^a Squadriglia didn’t intervene in view of the small numbers of attackers and the quick resolution of the clash.
Pilot Officer Winsland returned to base the following day with a Blenheim from El Eng.
Winsland’s aircraft may well have been the last Hurricane Mk.I to be shot down by a CR.42. Victor and vanquished were reunited in 1984, due to the efforts of British air historian and writer Brian Cull and Italian air historian Nicola Malizia, and Serafini and Winsland have remained firm friends ever since.

The British offensive Operation Crusader was launched in North Africa on 18 November 1941. Italian reinforcements were rushed to Libya including the 151^o Gruppo, which arrived at Benghazi K2 on 25 November with their CR.42s and Capitano Serafini as CO of the 366^a Squadriglia.
The Gruppo was on the same day immediately ordered to Agedabia.

In September 1942, Capitano Serafini took command of the 151^o Gruppo after Maggiore Antonio Giachino.

On 11 November 1942, the 151^o Gruppo, led by Capitano Serafini, moved to Pantelleria with 20 G.50bis to provide escorts to the transport aircraft flying back and forth from Sicily to Tunis.

Capitano Serafini left the command of the 151^o Gruppo in March 1943, when Capitano Domenico Bevilacqua took command of the unit.

At 12:10 on 22 April 1943, twelve Spitfires of 72 Squadron and twelve of 111 Squadron escorted twelve B-25s on a raid north of Bizerta. After bombing, the B-25s headed out to sea to look for shipping, but 16km north-east of Cap Bizerta, a formation identified as eight Ju 52/3ms with an escort of two MC.202s was seen heading for the port at 900m. These aircraft were in fact all Italian, comprising three-engined transports escorted by a total of 15 Macchis, all making for Tunis from Castelvetrano.
Wing Commander Gilroy (324 Wing), flying with the Spitfire Vcs of 111 Squadron, led his section down, he (Spitfire Vc GK-G) and Sergeant H. R. Hall (JG771) shooting down one of the transports 32km north-east of Cap Bizerta. The rest of 111 Squadron was then bounced by the escort 16km north-east of Bizerta. They initially identified them as Bf 109s. Flight Lieutenant B. E. Gale (JG876) claimed one MC.202 destroyed and a second was claimed by Pilot Officer D. E. Hogan (JG788), who also claimed two more as damaged. Warrant Officer E. L. Mouland (…275) claimed a third damaged MC.202. Flying Officer J. A. C. Fowler (ES180) was shot down and he became MiA. 111 Squadron landed again at 13:50.
The Italian pilots claimed one Spitfire shot down, this being shared among them. It seems that one of the was Capitano Serafini. Any Italian fighter losses are unknown but one MC.205 and one MC.200 were damaged during the day and the pilots WiA. Two Fiat G.12 from 606^a Squadriglia, 148^o Gruppo, were lost when MM60654/606-6 was shot down by fighters with the pilot Sergente Maggiore Carlo Barca, co-pilot Sergente Maggiore Ercole Maggi and crew becoming MiA. MM60687(?) was also shot down by fighters between Sciacca and Tunis, the aircraft landing in the sea from where the crews were later rescued.

Serafini ended the war with 3 biplane victories.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1936
	27/10/36	afternoon	1/3	Breguet XIX (a)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Peguerinos-El Escorial	1a Escuadrilla de Caza del Tercio
	27/10/36	afternoon	1/3	Breguet XIX (a)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Peguerinos-El Escorial	1a Escuadrilla de Caza del Tercio
	27/10/36	afternoon	1/3	Breguet XIX (a)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Peguerinos-El Escorial	1a Escuadrilla de Caza del Tercio
1	06/11/36	14:00	1	I-15 (b)	Destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Madrid area	1a Escuadrilla de Caza del Tercio
	15/11/36	morning	1/3	I-16 (c)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Madrid	3a Escuadrilla de Caza del Tercio
	03/12/36		1/2	SB (d)	Shared probably destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Madrid	3a Escuadrilla de Caza del Tercio
	1940
	31/10/40	13:00-14:00	1	Gladiator (e)	Damaged	Fiat CR.42		Marsa Matruh area	366a Squadriglia
2	31/10/40	13:00-14:00	1	Hurricane (e)	Destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Marsa Matruh area	366a Squadriglia
	31/10/40	13:00-14:00	1	Hurricane (e)	Damaged	Fiat CR.42		Marsa Matruh area	366a Squadriglia
	1941
3	01/02/41	17:30-18:20	1	Hurricane (f)	Destroyed	Fiat CR.42		near Cyrene	366a Squadriglia
	01/02/41	17:30-18:20	1/2	Hurricane (f)	Shared damaged	Fiat CR.42		near Cyrene	366a Squadriglia
	26/11/41	15:15-	1/2	Hurricane (g)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Augila area	366a Squadriglia
	1943
	22/04/43	12:10-13:50	1/15	Spitfire (h)	Shared destroyed	MC.202		Central Mediterranean	366a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 3 and 5 shared destroyed, 1 shared probably destroyed, 2 and 1 shared damaged.
TOTAL: 3 and 6 shared destroyed, 1 shared probably destroyed, 2 and 1 shared damaged.
(a) 4 Breguet XIXs from Escuadrilla Gonzalez shot down. 2 of the crews KIA and 2 safe.
(b) Four I-15s were claimed but only two could be confirmed by ground observers.
(c) Claimed in combat with I-16s, which claimed 2 enemy fighters while losing 1 I-16 (pilot safe). The CR.32s claimed 1 I-16 without losses (or possibly 1 lost).
(d) This claim can’t be verified with certainty by either Republican and Nationalist records.
(e) Claimed in combat with Gladiators from 112 Squadron and Hurricanes from 33 Squadron. 112 Squadron and 33 Squadron claimed 4 CR.42s, 3 S.79s, 2 probable S.79s and 1 damaged S.79 while losing 4 Gladiators and 2 Hurricanes. The Italian fighters totally claimed 11 victories while the bombers claimed 7, while losing 1 CR.42 and 2 S.79 (2 more S.79 being damaged beyond repair).
(f) Claimed in combat with two Hurricanes of 73 Squadron, which didn’t suffer any losses.
(g) Claimed in combat with 2 Hurricanes from 33 Squadron of which 1 was shot down. 366^a Squadriglia claimed 2 shot down.
(h) Claimed in combat against Spitfires from 111 Squadrons, which claimed 1 enemy transports, 2 MC.202s destroyed and 3 damaged while losing 1 Spitfire (pilot MiA). Italian fighters claimed 1 Spitfire without known losses among the fighters. 2 Fiat G.12s were lost.

Sources:
53^o Stormo - Marco Mattioli, 2010 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-84603-977-5
A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945: Volume One – Christopher Shores and Giovanni Massimello with Russell Guest, 2012 Grub Street, London, ISBN 978-1908117076
A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945: Volume Three – Christopher Shores and Giovanni Massimello with Russell Guest, Frank Olynyk & Winfried Bock, 2016 Grub Street, London, ISBN-13: 9781910690000
Annuario Ufficiale Delle Forze Armate Del Regno D’Italia Anno 1943. Part III Regia Aeronautica – 1943 Istituto Poligrafico Dello Stato, Roma
Assi Italiani Della Caccia 1936-1945 - 1999 Aerofan no. 69 apr.-giu. 1999
Desert Prelude: Early clashes June-November 1940 - Håkan Gustavsson and Ludovico Slongo, 2010 MMP books, ISBN 978-83-89450-52-4
Desert Prelude: Operation Compass - Håkan Gustavsson and Ludovico Slongo, 2011 MMP books, ISBN 978-83-61421-18-4
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
Fighters over the Desert - Christopher Shores and Hans Ring, 1969 Neville Spearman Limited, London
Giuseppe Cenni, pilota in guerra – Giuseppe Pesce, 2002, USSMA, Rome, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro.
Hurricanes over Tobruk - Brian Cull with Don Minterne, 1999 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-11-X
Il Savoia Marchetti S.M. 79 nel Secondo Conflitto Mondiale - Bombardamento Terrestre - Ricognizione Strategica - Aviazione Sahariana – Cesare Gori, 2003 USSMA, Rome, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
La Battaglie Aeree In Africa Settentrionale: Novembre-Dicembre 1941 – Michele Palermo, IBN, ISBN 88-7565-102-7
Mussolini's Eagles Over Guernica, April 26, 1937 - Paul Whelan and Tom Sarbaugh, 1989 Skyways Vol.12, October 1989
Polikarpov I-15, I-16 and I-153 Aces - Mikhail Maslov, 2010 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-84603-981-2
Stormi d'Italia – Giulio Lazzati, 1975 Mursia, Milan, ISBN 88-425-1946-4, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro.
Additional info kindly provided by Ian Acworth, Stefano Lazzaro, Alfredo Logoluso and Giovanni Massimello.