Angelo Golino was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 29 August 1917.

On 12 July 1940, the 9^o Gruppo C.T. arrived at Tripoli from Comiso with 33 Fiat CR.42s under the command of Maggiore Ernesto Botto. The Gruppo consisted of 73^a, 96^a and 97^a Squadriglie.
The 97^a Squadriglia included Capitano Antonio Larsimont Pergameni (CO), Capitano Giuseppe Mauriello, Tenente Ezio Viglione Borghese, Sottotenente Jacopo Frigerio, Sottotenente Riccardo Vaccari, Sottotenente Giovanni Barcaro, Maresciallo Vanni Zuliani, Sergente Maggiore Raffaele Novelli, Sergente Maggiore Otello Perotti, Sergente Maggiore Massimo Salvatore, Sergente Francesco Putzu, Sergente Franco Sarasino, Sergente Alcide Leoni and Sergente Golino (assigned on 22 July).
Together with the 10^o Gruppo they formed the 4^o Stormo C.T.
The Gruppo’s Fiat CR.42s was wisely retrofitted with tropical kits for guns and engines, to avoid the problems suffered by the other Gruppi.

The 9^o Gruppo was busy during 27 September covering troop movements towards Giarabub (the extreme outpost of the Italian army near the Sahara region, 240km south of El Adem). The first mission was flown by six CR.42s of 73^a Squadriglia led by Maggiore Ernesto Botto, and the second mission made by aircraft from the 96^a Squadriglia led by Capitano Roberto Fassi. Both these missions went on uneventfully.
The next mission of the day was flown by six CR.42s from the 97^a Squadriglia (Capitano Antonio Larsimont Pergameni, Sergente Franco Sarasino, Sottotenente Giovanni Barcaro, Tenente Ezio Viglione Borghese, Tenente Riccardo Vaccari and Sergente Golino) to which a CR.42 of the 366^a Squadriglia, 151^o Gruppo (Tenente Mario Ferrero on the first mission for this unit over the North African front) was attached.
While circling over El Garn ul Grein (90 km south of Ridotta Maddalena) they spotted 14 bombers 500 meters above them heading towards the troops. The bombers were eleven Bristol Blenheims of 55 Squadron led by Flight Lieutenant R.B. Cox (acting Squadron Leader), which had taken off from Fuka at 12:00, to raid Italian M. T. concentrations near Giarabub. The Blenheims crossed the border 30 miles north of Giarabub and then followed the road southwards to this town. Not meeting any enemy, they attacked the fort at 13:45 where a direct hit caused a column of black smoke to rise from the building. After the attack, two aircraft from ‘C’ Flight lagged behind the rest of the formation. They where L8394 piloted by Pilot Officer Godrich and L8454 piloted by Pilot Officer I. Hook. The Blenheims then proceeded up to the border road and when 40 miles north of Giarabub they discovered some M. T. resting. At the same moment, seven CR.42s were seen on the port side of the formation. The Fiats immediately attacked the two stragglers. The first four fighters were seen to come up behind L8394 while the other three waited above. The bomber was seen to catch fire and crash, one occupant thought to be the Air Gunner was seen to jump from the back and escape by parachute. The bomber fell victim of the first trio from the 97^a Squadriglia composed of Capitano Larsimont, Sergente Sarasino and Sottotenente Barcaro. These pilots in fact claimed the right wingman of the rear section shot down in flames. Larsimont observed a crewmember parachute from the burning bomber while Barcaro claimed to have set one of the bombers engines on fire with his fire; totally they expended more than 2000 rounds of ammunition. 21-year old pilot Flying Officer Ambrose Sydney Barnard Godrich (RAF no. 40532), 28-year old Observer Sergeant William Clarke (RAF no. 562044) and 22-year old Wireless Operator/Air Gunner Sergeant William Thompson (RAF no. 550519) were all killed when L8394 crashed.
Meanwhile, Tenente Ferrero attacked the front section, joined moments later by Larsimont, Sarasino and Barcaro. Ferrero claimed a probable Blenheim after expending 400 rounds. He was less effective than he believed, returning crews from 55 Squadron reported that apart from the two stragglers, the main formation was chased rather half-heartedly and no damage was done while an air gunner claimed one of the Fiats shot down but this was unconfirmed.
Tenente Viglione, Tenente Vaccari and Sergente Golino attacked the left wingman of the rear section, which was seen to dive to ground level. They pursued it for 80 kilometres over Egypt, until it reportedly crashed burning into the ground. Viglione and his wingmen then damaged other bombers before being forced to return to base due to lack of fuel. They had in fact chased L8454 (Pilot Officer Hook, Observer Sergeant W. F. Bowker and Wireless Operator/Air Gunner Sergeant J. Rigby). This Blenheim was seen by its comrades to dive to ground level and to continue evasive tactics that in the end made the following fighters to break off. The machine however was badly shot up and the crew was reputed very lucky not to have been hit. The ten surviving aircraft from 55 Squadron landed at base at 15:40.
The claim of Ferrero was due to a misunderstanding, because once back at base, from a telephone call from the Army, it was reported that after the Italian fighters had left the area another formation of bombers arrived. It was assumed that this was the 55 Squadron formation, less three aircraft, which was back over its intended target and for this reason a third plane was presumed shot down. In fact, it now transpires that 55 Squadron didn’t come back for a second raid and the second formation were in fact eight Blenheims of 211 Squadron under the lead of Squadron Leader Gordon-Finlayson bound for the same target. Five of the 211 Squadron’s bombers overshot while three others claimed hits in the target area.
The loss of L8394 was the first operational loss of 55 Squadron due to fighter opposition. On 30 September, men of an Egyptian Frontier Post found the wrecked L8394 with one body in it (Clarke?) and a pilot’s parachute together with helmet marked Godrich, outside the aircraft. Footsteps led away from the aircraft towards an Italian outpost, thus assuming that the pilot survived the crash and now was a POW. This was not the case and in fact, all three had been killed.
A fourth uneventful mission was flown later during the day by the 73^a Squadriglia.

In the afternoon on 9 December, SM 79s were out to bomb British troops at the Sidi Barrani - Bir Enba area. They were to be escorted by 19 CR.42s of the 9^o Gruppo led by Maggiore Ernesto Botto, which had taken off from El Adem at 14:55. The fighters included seven from the 73^a Squadriglia (Tenente Valerio De Campo (CO), Tenente Giulio Reiner, Sottotenente Alvaro Querci, Sergente Maggiore Guglielmo Biffani, Sergente Maggiore Enrico Dallari, Sergente Maggiore Antonio Valle and Sergente Santo Gino) seven from the 97^a Squadriglia (Capitano Antonio Larsimont Pergameni (CO), Tenente Ezio Viglione Borghese, Sottotenente Riccardo Vaccari, Sergente Maggiore Otello Perotti, Sergente Maggiore Massimo Salvatore, Sergente Golino and Sergente Alcide Leoni) and four from the 96^a Squadriglia (Tenente Aldo Gon and Sergente Giuseppe Tomasi together with two unknown pilots).
More Italian fighters were up to escort the bombers and at 15:10, Sergente Maggiore Fiorenzo Milella of the 366^a, 151^o Gruppo, attached to a formation of nine CR.42s of the 368^a Squadriglia (Capitano Bruno Locatelli, Sergente Maggiore Davide Colauzzi, Sergente Ernesto De Bellis, Sottotenente Furio Lauri, Sergente Maggiore Annibale Ricotti, Tenente Orfeo Paroli, Sergente Piero Hosquet, Sergente Stefano Fiore, Sergente Ottorino Ambrosi) were out to escorted Italian bombers in the Bir Enba area.
The rendezvous with the bombers over A3 failed and after 20 minutes, the fighters of the 9^o Gruppo arrived and together they proceeded towards the front on a free sweep. Three SM 79s were discovered and escorted for a while. Over Buq-Buq, a Hurricane strafing along the coastal road was discovered and the SM 79s were left to the 9^o Gruppo while the CR.42s of the 151^o Gruppo attacked the British fighter. The Hurricane was claimed shot down in flames and credited to the formation (but in fact only Locatelli, Lauri, Paroli and De Bellis fired their guns).
The 151^a Gruppo fighters returned to base at 16:50.
Meanwhile the fighters from the 9^o Gruppo continued and 30 km south of Bir Enba they spotted some Gladiators at a lower level and dived on them, but suddenly the CR.42s were jumped by a reported two Squadrons of Hurricanes or Spitfires, attacking respectively the 73^a Squadriglia and the 96^a Squadriglia with the 97^a Squadriglia. A large dogfight started and after 20 minutes of combat many claims were submitted by the Italian pilots
Tenente Vaccari fought alone against four Hurricanes, claiming one destroyed (as a Spitfire) and damaging the others before his Fiat was hit in the fuel tank and in the engine. He crash-landed near Sollum, the aircraft turning over and caught fire; he was burned in the face and hands. Sergente Maggiore Salvatore claimed a Spitfire and several damaged before being wounded in his left arm. He managed however to return to base. Sergente Golino was hit in his back, but managed to claim his attacker before being compelled to evade and land at Amseat A3. Sergente Maggiore Biffani (Fiat CR.42 MM5599/73-9) claimed a Hurricane but was at the same shot down by his victim and was captured. He recalled:

"In the afternoon of 9 December we were flying between Mersa Matruh and Buq-Buq, when my wingman, Sottotenente Alvaro Querci, warned me that we had enemies behind us. I alerted Botto by shooting a burst [Note that the CR.42 had no radio during this period], then I realized they were near my tail, so I made a 180-degree turn and I saw them pass: they were three Hurricanes. I climbed almost vertically and saw the 73^a Squadriglia in front, the three Hurricanes behind it and 96^a and 97^a Squadriglia behind them, all in a vertical line that went down to the ground. Then I discovered a Hurricane that was breaking off from the combat, clearly he had seen the other Italian fighters on its tail. I continued to climb, now I was the highest fighter of them all, then I dived down at full throttle [towards the escaping Hurricane]. I arrived near it and then I reduced speed and put the revolutions between 1850 and 2250 because otherwise I would had cut my propeller as happened to Gon and others, because the airscrew went out of gear and the round was fired when it passed in front of the gun (…) . When I closed to it, I opened fire. I aimed and saw the explosive bullets that exploded on the wing. Why didn’t anything happen? Was there no fuel at all? I fired at the other wing but it was the same, the bullets exploded but nothing happened. I fired into the engine, nothing happened. I saw the tracers very well, and after all, it wasn’t the first time I was shooting. At Gorizia I used to hit the target balloon with ten rounds only. In the meantime, I was losing speed and falling behind, O.K. Goodbye! It passed and turned towards me again -so I hadn’t caused any damage to it- , and I did the same. We found ourselves face to face at a distance of around 500-600 metres. I started firing and saw my tracers hitting it, then its wings lit up and in the same moment my plane caught fire, it was just an instant. My plane was severely damaged and while I was trying to land I saw the Hurricane that dived into the ground and exploded. I saw no parachute. I force-landed among British MTs and was immediately taken prisoner. I went back home after 63 months of POW!"

“The enemy engaged in dogfight. Claim one E a/c for certain (saw it hit the ground). Attacked two in tight vic and was at 200 yards point blank range and fell certain must have killed pilots. Got another good and point blank deflection shot at another. Closed from optimum to point blank range at first. Must (?) have shot down the first two but could not spare time to confirm. 3rd point blank deflection shot likely and fourth adversary saw it hit the ground (claim 1 confirmed and 2 others which I feel certain about but must go down as unconfirmed).”

“The enemy fired back. 1 CR 42 shot down and seen to hit the ground without burning. Several other machines were shot at individually. They can out manoeuvre a Hurricane but one can get away and then come back.”

“The enemy tried to turn inside me. 1 CR 42 shot at short range from above into cockpit. Aircraft turned (unreadable) with sparks from it. Followed it down until attacked by others CR 42s. Using 15^o flap climb (unreadable) but not quite equal to 42. Speed on level far superior. Possible when attacked from above to turn and deliver short head on burst.”

“The enemy dog fought, during dogfight damaged two enemy and sent one down out of control but could not see it crash as another was in my tail. The enemy fairly aggressive.”

“The enemy started a general dogfight. 1 CR 42 shot down and seen to burn out on the ground”.

9^o Gruppo returned from the desert and was re-equipped with Macchi MC.202s. They were sent to Sicily, arriving in the end of September 1941, to take part in the operations against Malta

At 07:15 on 21 November 1941, five MC.200s of 54^o Stormo and ten 9^o Gruppo MC.202s strafed Hal Far, presumably attracted by the presence of 242 and 605 Squadron’s Hurricanes based there. Seven Hurricanes from 185 Squadron led by Squadron Leader Pike were scrambled to intercept. They attacked five Macchis initially (probably the MC.200s), five more then jumping the British fighters (probably some of the MC.202s). No firm claims were made by the Hurricane pilots, but it was believed that three of the Italian fighters had been damaged. Sergeant Bill Nurse’s Hurricane was badly hit in return.
Flying Officer Peter Thompson recorded in 185 Squadron’s diary:

“The raid came in at dawn. Some Macchis shot up Hal Far and Takali, doing hardly any damage. A Flight jumped part of the high cover at about 12,000 feet [3,700 meters] and a general dogfight ensued. During the fight five more Macchis joined in, making the odds 10-7 in their favour. Although A Flight did not claim any definitely destroyed, it is a safe bet to say that some little Macchi pilots did not have any breakfast this morning. The fight was watched from the ground with great interest. The Italians were seen to do some amazing evasive manoeuvres, including rolls off the top and bunting. The Italians on this particular occasion showed considerable initiative. They split up into two formations, one formation acting as stooges and the other as jumpers – they might have met with more success but for the skill of our pilots and the handling qualities of the old Hurricane. Sgt Nurse was attacked by an enemy ‘Hurricane’ (fitted with .5s) and received considerable damage to his ailerons and port petrol tank. Nurse landed OK.”

“One Macchi pulled up in front of me and I gave him a long burst from 200-150 yards [180-140 meters] and I saw my bullets appear to enter the fuselage. He rolled over and went down, presumably evasive tactics. I was later attacked by another machine which I thought was a Hurricane and sustained hits in the tail and wings.”

“We arose to the sound of much noise. The Italians were indulging in a low-flying attack on this aerodrome at 7:15 a.m. We went out to view the fun and were much pleased by the magnificent spectacle of the ‘flaming onions’ fired by the Bofors guns. Saw one stream of ‘onions’ pass through a vie of three Macchis. When the ack-ack had died down we witnessed a dogfight between seven of 185 Squadron and some Macchis. Apparently, the 185 boys had jumped some of the enemy and had then been jumped in turn by more of the Italians. The Macchis powered by Daimler-Benz engines are superior to our Hurricanes in performance.”

In the afternoon on 26 June and amid heavy engagements, six Baltimores from 223 Squadron managed to surprise Axis units on the ground at Sidi Barrani. They were covered by 233 Wing (16:08-17:25). The bombers caught everyone by surprise by coming from the sea and at 16:40 all of the bombs were dropped among poorly dispersed aircraft, leaving three of them burning.
The pilots of 5./JG 27 (which just had shot down Major John Hewitson into captivity) had just landed at Sidi Barrani and so were still in their aircraft when the bombers hit. Two Bf 109F-4 trops were hit by splinters; Felwebel Siegfried Fricke (WNr. 8466 10% damaged) and nine-victory-ace Leutnant Kurt Jenisch (WNr. 7417 10% damaged) were wounded, the latter fatally. It also seems that Unteroffizier Erich Opitz from Stab/JG 27 was wounded in the attack.
III/JG 53 was badly hit. Its aircraft were positioned close together to speed up refuelling and had their pilots by them. Leutnant Erich Beckmann (9./JG 53, WNr. 10036 95% damaged) was fatally wounded and Unteroffizier Paul Gläser (7./JG 53, WNr. 8684 50% damaged) was badly wounded. Three more pilots were slightly wounded. Unteroffizier Walter Manz (9./JG 53, WNr. 10111 45% damaged), Leutnant Wolf Schaller (9./JG53, WNr. 8792 50%damaged) and Leutnant Max Lange (10.(Jabo)/JG 53, WNr. 10140, 60% damaged) were wounded. Three more aircraft were badly damaged; WNr. 10114 (9./JG 53) 70% damaged, WNr. 10156 (9./JG 53) 80% damaged and F-4/Z WNr. 7094 (10.(Jabo)/JG 53 90% damaged.
The 9^o Gruppo was hard hit. Maggiore Antonio Larsimont Pergameni (CO), Maggiore Ludovico Laurin (a former test pilot just arrived to the 73^a Squadriglia) and Sergente Maggiore Golino (97^a Squadriglia) were all killed with Tenente Ferruccio Zarini (73^a Squadriglia) being wounded.
Several MC.202s were also damaged: MM7920/73-4, MM7914, MM7936 (all three from the 73^a Squadriglia), MM7761 and MM7932/97-8 (both from the 97^a Squadriglia). The Caproni Ca.133 (MM6053) from the 73^a Squadriglia was also damaged.

At the time of his death Golino was credited with 1 biplane victory.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1940
	27/09/40		1/3	Blenheim (a)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		El Garn ul Grein area	97a Squadriglia
1	09/12/40	14:55-	1	Hurricane (b)	Destroyed	Fiat CR.42		30 km S Bir Enba	97a Squadriglia
	1941
	21/11/41	07:15	1/3	’Spitfire’ (c)	Shared destroyed	MC.202		Hal Far area	97a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 1 and 1 shared destroyed.
TOTAL: 1 and 2 shared destroyed.
(a) Blenheim Mk.I L8454 from 55 Squadron badly shot up but managed to return to base. The crew was safe.
(b) Probably claimed in combat between 9^o and 151^o Gruppi and 33 and 274 Squadrons. 9^o Gruppo claimed eight shot down, three probables and several damaged while losing two CR.42s and four force-landed. The 151^o Gruppo claimed one Hurricane without losses. 33 and 274 Squadrons claimed seven or eight CR.42s and three probables while one Hurricane (33 Squadron) had to force-land and a second (274 Squadron) was damaged.
(c) Claimed in combat with Hurricanes from 185 Squadron, which claimed 3 damaged Macchis while suffering 1 Hurricane damaged. 9^o Gruppo claimed 2 ‘Spitfires’ and 2 probables while getting 2 MC.202 damaged.

Sources:
3^o Stormo, storia fotografica - Dai biplani agli aviogetti - Carlo Lucchini and Leproni Enrico, 1990 Gino Rossato Editore
9^o Stormo da Bombardamento Terrestre (1934-1943) - Giovanni Tonicchi, 1997, Tarquinia kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Aces High - Christopher Shores and Clive Williams, 1994 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-898697-00-0
Aces High Volume 2 - Christopher Shores, 1999 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-03-9
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
Buscaglia e gli Aerosiluranti - Orazio Giuffrida, 1994 Ufficio Storico Aeronautica Militare, Rome kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Dai Biplani agli Aviogetti - Carlo Lucchini and Enrico Leproni, 1990 Gino Rossato Editore, Valdagno kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
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
Eagles over Gazala: Air Battles in North Africa May-June 1942 – Michele Palermo, IBN Editore, ISBN (10) 88-7565-168-X
Elenco Nominativo dei Militari dell’ A. M. Decorati al V. M. Durante it Periodo 1929 - 1945 1 Volume A - L
Ernesto Botto, Gamba di Ferro - Ferdinando Pedriali, Storia Militare no. 96 (IX), September 2001 kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Fiat CR.42 Aces of World War 2 - Håkan Gustavsson and Ludovico Slongo, 2009 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-84603-427-5
Fighters over Malta – Brian Cull and Frederick Galea, 2018 Fonthill Media, ISBN 978-1-78155-663-4
Fighters over the Desert - Christopher Shores and Hans Ring, 1969 Neville Spearman Limited, London
GORIZIA ed il QUARTO STORMO
Hurricanes over Malta - Brian Cull and Frederick Galea, 2001 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-91-8
Hurricanes over Tobruk - Brian Cull with Don Minterne, 1999 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-11-X
Il 5^o Stormo - Giuseppe Pesce and Nicola Malizia, 1984 STEM Mucchi, Modena kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Il 23^o Gruppo Caccia - Nicola Malizia, 1974 Bizzarri, Roma kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Il 101^o Gruppo Tuffatori - Giuseppe Pesce, 1975 STEM Mucchi, Modena kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Il Caccia Re 2000 e la storia delle "Reggiane" - Sergio Govi, 1983 Giorgio Apostolo Editore, Milan kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Il caccia RE 2001 - Sergio Govi, 1982 Giorgio Apostolo Editore, Milan kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Il Fiat CR 42 l’ultimo biplano da caccia Italiano – Nicola Malizia, 2003 Editrice Innocenti, Grosseto, kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Il Walzer del 102^o Gruppo - Giuseppe Pesce, 1976 STEM Mucchi, Modena, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Italian Aces of World War 2 - Giovanni Massimello and Giorgio Apostolo, 2000 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 1-84176-078-1
La Regia Aeronautica - volume I: Dalla non belligeranza all'intervento – Nino Arena, 1981 USSMA, Rome kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Macchi C.202/C.205V Units In Combat – Marco Mattioli, 2022 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-4728-5068-3
Malta: The Hurricane Years 1940-41 - Christopher Shores and Brian Cull with Nicola Malizia, 1987 Grub Street, London, ISBN 0-89747-207-1
Ministero della Difesa - Banca Dati sulle sepolture dei Caduti in Guerra
Messerschmitt Bf 109 - Gregory Alegi and Marco Gueli, 2002 Ali Straniere in Italia no. 1, La Bancarella Aeronautica, Turin, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Quelli del Cavallino Rampante - Antonio Duma, 1981 Editore Dell'Ateneo, Roma, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Storia degli Aerosiluranti Italiani - Carlo Unia, 1974 Edizioni Bizzarri, Rome, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Stormi d'Italia - Giulio Lazzati, 1975 Mursia, Milan kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
The Bristol Blenheim: A complete history – Graham Warner, 2002 Crécy Publishing Limited, Manchester, ISBN 0-947554-92-0
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Messerschmitt 109 in Italian service 1943-1945 - Ferdinando D'Amico and Gabriele Valentini, 1989 Monogram Aviation Publication, Boylston, ISBN 0-914144-30-8, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Woody - A Fighter Pilot's Album - Hugh A. Halliday, 1987 Canav Books, Toronto, ISBN 0-9690703-8-1
Additional information kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro and Ludovico Slongo.