Eduardo Sorvillo was born on 10 April 1919.

On 1 October 1938, he was commissioned (in Servizio Permanente Effettivo).

He was promoted to Tenente on 8 April 1940.

The 13^o Gruppo (77^a, 78^a and 82^a Squadriglie) of the 2^o Stormo C.T. was commanded by Maggiore Secondo Revetria and started the war based at Tripoli Castelbenito airfield with twenty-five CR.42s and eleven CR.32s on hand (the CR.32s, kept as a reserve, were later passed on to the 50^o Stormo Assalto) to guard against a possible French attach from the west.
Pilots in the 77^a Squadriglia were: Capitano Mario Fedele (CO), Tenente Sorvillo (recently arrived from 4^o Stormo), Tenente Giulio Torresi, Sottotenente Gianmario Zuccarini, Sottotenente Mario Fabbricatore, Sergente Maggiore Ernesto Scalet, Sergente Maggiore Leone Basso, Sergente Maggiore Agostino Fausti, Sergente Raoul Scodellari, Sergente Ernesto Paolini, Sergente Enrico Botti (recently arrived from 53^o Stormo), Sergente Amedeo Benati and Sergente Vincenzo Campolo. These pilots had twelve CR.42s (including Maggiore Revetria’s and Colonnello Federici’s) (eight combat ready and three still under assembly) and four CR.32quaters.

At 16:10 on 9 December, three CR.42s from the 77^a Squadriglia (Tenente Giulio Torresi, Sottotenente Gianmario Zuccarini and Tenente Sorvillo) together with six more from the 78^a Squadriglia (Capitano Giuseppe Dall’Aglio, Sottotenente Dario Magnabosco, Sergente Ernesto Taddia, Tenente Giovanni Beduz, Sottotenente Natale Cima and Sottotenente Canneppele) took off to strafe enemy armoured vehicles on the road between Sidi El Barrani and Bir Enba. The attack was done under heavy AA fire and lasted 30 minutes. The attackers used 3000 rounds of ammunition and reportedly caused heavy damage.
Sorvillo was back at Gambut at 17:45 together with the 78^a Squadriglia, while Torresi and Zuccarini landed at Menastir because of the growing darkness.

On 10 December, five CR.42s of the 77^a Squadriglia (Tenente Colonnello Secondo Revetria, Tenente Sorvillo, Sottotenente Mario Nicoloso, Sottotenente Carmelo Catania, Sergente Ernesto Paolini and Sergente Carlo Manfredi), six from the 78^a Squadriglia (Capitano Giuseppe Dall’Aglio, Sottotenente Dario Magnabosco, Tenente Giovanni Beduz, Sergente Teresio Martinoli, Sottotenente Natale Cima and Sottotenente Luigi Canneppele) with six fighters from the 82^a Squadriglia (Capitano Guglielmo Arrabito, Sottotenente Gilberto Cerofolini, Sottotenente Giuseppe Timolina, Sottotenente Giuseppe Bottà, Sottotenente Virgilio Vanzan and Sergente Luigi Giannotti) as top cover, took off from Gambut at 15:30 to escort S.79s out to attack enemy concentrations in the Bir Enba-Sidi El Barrani area.
Near Sidi el Barrani, Giannotti discovered a Bristol Blenheim, attacked and claimed it damaged.
The rest of the mission was uneventful and the fighters were back at 17:15. While returning, Tenente Sorvillo was forced to land at Menastir because of a broken engine while Sergente Martinoli had to abort because of another breakdown. Sorvillo arrived back at Gambut by car.
The bombers were a vic of three S.79s from the 63^a Squadriglia led by Colonnello Aramu that at least were able to release their bomb load (50 kilos bombs) over the British concentrations.

At 14:00 on 14 December, eight or nine Hurricanes from 274 Squadron took off with 10 minutes intervals, refuelling at Sidi Barrani aerodrome to carry out an offensive patrol west of Sollum, as information was received that waves of Italian aircraft were attacking British forward troops. Participating pilots were Flight Lieutenant Peter Wykeham-Barnes (V7300) (14:00-16:00), Flight Lieutenant John Lapsley (V7293) (14:00-16:10), Pilot Officer Charles Laubscher (P3720) (14:00-16:00), Squadron Leader Patrick Dunn (P5176), Flying Officer C. F. Greenhill (N2627), Pilot Officer Strong (P2652), Pilot Officer Garland (P2627), Flying Officer Lynch (P2556) and probably Pilot Officer Ernest Mason (P3722).
Between 16:05 and 16:08 and 25 miles west of Bardia they met a formation of CR.42s described as three in vic first seen but about nine seen later (or 9-12 eventually engaged). They engaged the Italian formation and returned claiming five of them. Two were claimed by Squadron Leader Dunn, two by Flight Lieutenant John Lapsley and the fifth was credited to Flying Officer Greenhill 30 miles west of Bardia while Pilot Officer Mason claimed one probable.
Flying Officer Greenhill reported that he was flying at 12,000 feet in vic with two other Hurricanes and saw the CR.42s at 3 o’clock 12 miles away and 2,000 feet below when in a position 30 miles west of Bardia. He delivered an astern attack:

“[The enemy engaged] in dogfight, 1 CR 42 shot down and crashed (seen by F/Lt Lapsley) 1 CR 42 damaged our casualties nil. The formation of 3 CR 42 were taken by surprise after which other CR 42s appeared and attempted to engage us but unsuccessfully.”

“[The enemy] turned and a dogfight ensued. 2 CR 42s shot down. 1 crashed after initial attack. The others smoked and crashed in flames. Came in and get away tactics used quite successfully. The enemy seemed more determined than in my previous engagements.”

“[The enemy did] the usual action. Five CR 42’s shot down by flight. Self 2. E a/c were not flying in such tight formation and must have been part of a well planned larger formation which I did not see when attacking original target.”

“…two of us met a CR 42 which attacked head on but I gave him a long burst and he went down in a spin. We didn’t see him smoke or burn or hit the ground so he is unconfirmed. I have also been doing a lot of ground strafing. I fly down a road at nought feet and fire at motors and things. Interesting to fire at the back of a van full of troops. You see your bullets hitting the sand and you just move the cloud of sand up towards and past the lorry. You then see dozens of chaps pile out like nobody’s business. Some run away – some can’t!”

In 1943, he served in the 160^o Gruppo Autonomo.

Sorvillo ended the war with 1 biplane victory.
He was decorated with two Medaglie d’argento al valor militare during the war.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1940
1	14/12/40	15:20-	1	Hurricane (a)	Destroyed	CR.42		25m W Bardia	77a Squadriglia
	14/12/40	15:20-	1/4	Hurricane (a)	Shared destroyed	CR.42		25m W Bardia	77a Squadriglia
	14/12/40	15:20-	1/4	Hurricane (a)	Shared probable	CR.42		25m W Bardia	77a Squadriglia
	14/12/40	15:20-	1/4	Hurricane (a)	Shared probable	CR.42		25m W Bardia	77a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 1 and 1 shared destroyed, 2 shared probables.
TOTAL: 1 and 1 shared destroyed, 2 shared probables.
(a) Claimed in combat with Hurricanes from 274 Squadron. The 13^o Gruppo claimed four and two probables with one CR.42 damaged. 274 Squadron claimed five and one probable while losing one Hurricane (Squadron Leader Dunn safe).

Sources:
2^o Stormo - Note storiche dal 1925 al 1975 - Gino Strada, 1975 USSMA, Rome, kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
274 Squadron Operations Record Book
Annuario Ufficiale Delle Forze Armate Del Regno D’Italia Anno 1943. Part III Regia Aeronautica – 1943 Istituto Poligrafico Dello Stato, 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
Fighters over the Desert - Christopher Shores and Hans Ring, 1969 Neville Spearman Limited, London
Hurricanes over Tobruk - Brian Cull with Don Minterne, 1999 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-11-X
Additional information kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo