Wow ...
There was a very similar story from my mom's Irish folks. An Irishman had crossed the channel and volunteered, joined the paras and found himself in the closing days of the North Africa campaign. The paras were being dropped on an airfield. They all hooked up. Red light, green light, "Go!" Two men out the door as the red light came on, "Stop!" A navigation error .... wait ... wait ... Green light!
Not that long, but enough when your Dakota is flying away at some 200+mph. Said Mick and his mate were dropping well away from the rest of the stick, but he was trying to keep a bearing. When they landed, an Italian motorised column came roaring up ... and surrendered.
To be fair, the fighting in N Africa was all but over ...
(Note: The Italians got some degree of unfair treatment because of their performance in N. Africa. Another case of good men, badly led. When well led, they performed well and won the respect of the Brits. The Ariete Armoured Division, for example, was held in high regard.)
Ubiquitous 
s are in the the mail.
