.
Another factor impossible to calculate in
advance, was the effect of disorganization by the dispersal of paratroopers when
they jumped. Squads and whole platoons found themselves hundreds of yards from
their true assembly points; and some at the very start became engaged in active
fire-fights from very unfavorable positions. Others were trapped in ravines,
from which they could escape only with difficulty and with some loss of vital
equipment.
(Engineer's Ravine)