The son of Italian immigrant parents, Donnini was born in Easington Colliery. He was serving in the Royal Scots Fusiliers near Hongen in Holland on 18 January 1945, when he was killed in action against a farmhouse held by thirty German soldiers. Donnini was awarded the Victoria Cross, at 19 years of age the youngest soldier ever to receive the highest decoration for gallantry. A number of streets and premises in County Durham are named after him.