22. Alec Guinness launched the invasion of Sicily an hour early
In 1941, Alec Guinness enlisted in the Royal Navy Reserves, and was commissioned a naval officer the following year. He was ordered to Boston in 1943 to take charge of his first command, a freshly built landing craft. He sailed his ship and new crew across the Atlantic to North Africa, where they began training for the Allied invasion of Sicily. On July 9th, 1943 he took 200 men to land on Passaro, Sicily, but due to a communications breakdown, was not apprised that the landing had been delayed. So Guinness arrived on the beach alone, and disembarked his troops an hour early.