Allied cargo sunk by Tarantola's squadron, the 239a squadriglia bombardamento a tuffo. On july 29th 1941 Tarantola hit with a perfect shot the Australian destroyer Waterhen, later finished by his squadron and other German bombers. The next day Tarantola was downed and he and his gunner remained 18 hours at the mercy of sea before being rescued by a seaplane. After this experience Tarantola asked to be reassigned to fighters. DVX

A target

After the service in the Spanish civil war on the CR32 fighters, strangely our sergente Tarantola passed to dive bombers, serving in the 239a squadriglia flying on Picchiatelli (Italian Stukas). In this photo taken in may 1941 by the rear gunner, a perfect shot of Tarantola over British mechanized forces in North Africa.

From fighters to bombers

Tarantola, now reassigned to a fighter unit, the 151a sq. of the 51° stormo, in front of his Macchi 202 "dai banana!" (come on banana!). He was was nicknamed "banana" by his comrades because in his first youth he worked as a seller of fruits and vegetables. DVX

