In November 1940 Tarantini belonged to the 160^o Gruppo C.T. At this time this unit took part in the Greek campaign and was equipped with Fiat CR.42s.

On 19 November 1940, 'B' Flight of 80 Squadron, which recently had arrived to Greece to reinforce the Greek fighter forces, flew up to Trikkala during the morning. After refuelling, nine Gladiators took off, led by three Greek PZL P.24s, for an offensive patrol over the Koritza area. Squadron Leader William Hickey led the Gladiators.
When they neared the Italian airfield at Koritza the PZLs were obliged to turn back due to their short range. The Gladiators flew over Koritza were Italian anti-aircraft opened up. Flight Lieutenant 'Pat' Pattle, who were leading the second section, sighted four Fiat CR.42s climbing towards them from the starboard beam.
It had been arranged beforehand that the Gladiators would not use their radiotelephones unless it was absolutely essential, because they had discovered in the desert that the CR.42s used a similar wavelength; by listening in to the Gladiators, the Italians received prior information of an attack. Pattle warned Hickey of the presence of the CR.42s simply by diving past the Commanding Officer's section and pointing his Gladiator towards the Italian aircraft. Hickey acknowledged that he understood by waggling his wing and Pattle withdrew to his position at the head of his section.
As Hickey’s section dived towards the four CR.42s, Pattle noticed a second group of two more CR.42s and took his section, consisting of Pilot Officer 'Heimar' Stuckey and Sergeant Charles Casbolt, to engage these. Pattle went for the leading CR.42, which attempted to evade the attack by diving steeply and slipping from side to side. Pattle followed, closing in rapidly, but he didn't fire until the CR.42 straightened out and thereby offered a steadier target. From 100 yards astern, he lined up the CR.42 in his sight and opened fire. The CR.42 steepened its dive; the pilot had apparently been hit, because he fell forward over the control column. Pattle pulled away, as the CR.42 went straight down to crash about two miles west of Koritza, bursting into flames on striking the ground. Stuckey, following close behind Pattle's Gladiator, smiled and gave a thumbs-up signal to Pattle signifying confirmation of the victory.
The two Gladiators, now completely alone, climbed up to 15,000 feet immediately over the airfield, and saw a dogfight in progress a few miles to the north. Heading in that direction, they were soon engaged by five CR.42s and two G.50s. One of the G.50s came at Pattle in a head-on attack, but broke away much to early, the tracers passing yards below the Gladiator. A CR.42 had a go next, but Pattle quickly snap-rolled, up and over the Italian aircraft, and came down perfectly in position fifty yards behind the CR.42. A short burst and the cockpit of the CR.42 became a mass of flames and it fell away burning furiously. After this combat he noticed that his air pressure were so low that he couldn't fire his guns and he soon returned to base.
80 Squadron had been involved in combat with Fiat CR.42s of 160^o Gruppo Autonomo C.T., which were patrolling over this area, and with G.50bis from 24^o Gruppo Autonomo C.T., which were escorting bombers in the same area.
Totally in this combat the British pilots claimed nine and two probables shot down. Apart from Pattle's two CR.42s, Stuckey claimed one G.50, which crashed, and one CR.42, Flight Lieutenant 'Shorty' Graham claimed one G.50 and one CR.42, Pilot Officer S. G. Cooper claimed one shared CR.42 with Pilot Officer William Vale, who also claimed one additional CR.42, Sergeant Charles Casbolt claimed one G.50 and finally Flying Officer Sidney Linnard claimed two CR.42s as probables.
In the combat was Stuckey hit and wounded in the right shoulder and leg, but managed to get back to Trikkala from where he would be despatched to hospitals in Athens.
Three CR.42s and one G.50bis were actually lost. In 160^o Gruppo Sergente Maggiore Natale Viola (363^a Squadriglia), Maresciallo Giuseppe Salvadori (363^a Squadriglia) and Sergente Maggiore Arturo Bonato (393^a Squadriglia) all failed to return, as did Tenente Attilio Meneghel of 355^a Squadriglia, 24^o Gruppo. A fourth CR.42 flown by Sergente Maggiore Walter Ratticchieri was hit and the pilot was wounded in both legs. One CR.42 pilot, Sergente Maggiore Tarantini, claimed a Gladiator shot down, two more being claimed as probables, one by Capitano Paolo Arcangeletti, the other by a G.50bis pilot.

On 3 December 1940 six 23 Mira PZL P.24s engaged 18 CR.42s of 160^o Gruppo led by Maggiore Oscar Molinari, south-west of Moschopoles. Three of the Greek fighters were claimed shot down by Molinari, Sottotenente Giorgio Moretti and Sergente Tarantini, while a fourth and two probables were claimed shared by several pilots. Greek aircraft losses are not known in detail, but one pilot - Hiposminagos (1st Lieutenant) Constantine Tsitsas - was killed in the combat.
23 Mira pilots claimed one CR.42.

On 9 February 1941 18 S.79s from the 104^o Gruppo were out to bomb in the Kelcyre-Tepelene area. These bombers were escorted by twelve Fiat G.50bis fighters from the 24^o Gruppo led by Maggiore Eugenio Leotta, and twelve Fiat CR.42s from the 160^o Gruppo, led by Tenente Edoardo Crainz. Four Greek Gladiators of 21 Mira (Sminagos Ioanis Kellas (CO of 21 Mira), Anthiposminagos Anastasios Bardivilias, Episminias Ilias Dimitrakopoulos and Episminias Nikolaos Kostorizos) and eight PZLs from 22 and 23 Mire intercepted the formation.
The Greek fighters didn’t manage to penetrate the fighter screen and a series of hectic dogfights started with the Italian escort. Overclaiming was heavy on both sides and the Greek pilots claimed eight enemy fighters, Kellas claimed two while Bardivilias, Dimitrakopoulos and Kostorizos claimed one enemy aircraft each. Episminas Epaminondas Dagoulas of 22 Mira claimed one fighter while Yposminagos Marinos Mitralexes from the same unit claimed one fighter over Berat; Mitralexes also claimed one additional fighter and a probable during the combat. The Greek Army confirmed the eight victories and this was also confirmed by a Mr. Roussos, a journalist of the newspaper ELEYTHERON BHMA, who was on the ground with the troops as a war correspondent. His report is a first hand account and also gives the enthusiasm of the Greek soldiers while the Italian planes fell to the ground.
The Gladiators flown by Kellas and Dimitrakopoulos were both hard hit during the combat but it was possible to repair these fighters. Yposminagos Kotronis was shot down, but he managed to force-land his PZL, totally destroying it in the process. He escaped, however, only lightly wounded. A second PZL was shot up by three fighters and Episminias (Sergeant) John Michopoulos of 22 Mira was wounded in the thigh, but he managed to get back to Salonika/Sedes and land. Other aircraft returned damaged.
The G.50bis pilots in return claimed one Gladiator and three PZLs shot down, while the pilots from the 160^o Gruppo submitted claims for three Gladiators (one each by Tenente Crainz, Sergente Maggiore Tarantini and Sergente Maggiore Aurelio Munich) and two PZLs (Sottotenente Raoul Francinetti and Sergente Antonio Crabbia).
It seems that no Italian fighters were lost on this occasion.

Tarantini ended the war with 3 victories, these being claimed while flying Fiat CR.42s.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1940
1	19/11/40	1	Gladiator (a)	Destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Koritza area	160o Gruppo
2	03/12/40	1	PZL P.24 (b)	Destroyed	Fiat CR.42		SW Moschopoles	160o Gruppo
	1941
3	09/02/41	1	Gladiator (c)	Destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Kelcyre-Tepelene area	160o Gruppo

Biplane victories: 3 destroyed.
TOTAL: 3 destroyed.
(a) In this combat 160^o Gruppo Autonomo C.T. claimed one and one probable Gladiator while 24^o Gruppo Autonomo C.T. claimed one probable. 80 Squadron got one Gladiator flown by Flying Officer 'Heimar' Stuckey damaged and the pilot was wounded.
(b) Claimed in combat with 23 Mira.
(c) Claimed in combat with fighters from 21, 22, 22 Mire. The 24^o and 160^o Gruppi claimed five PZLs and four Gladiators without loss. The Greek fighters claimed eight enemy fighters for the loss of one PZL while several more were damaged.

Sources:
Ace of Aces: M T StJ Pattle - E C R Baker, 1992 Crécy Books, Somerton, ISBN 0-947554-36-X
Air war for Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete - Christopher Shores, Brian Cull and Nicola Malizia, 1987 Grub Street, London, ISBN 0-948817-07-0
Additional information kindly provided by Dimitrios Vassilopoulos.