Did a TYPO really help END World War II? A viral Twitter thread suggests so

By: Trends Desk | New Delhi |
April 12, 2018 7:56:19 pm

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Did you know how World War II ended? (Source: Pixabay.com)

While the end of World War Two (1945) is marked by the surrender of Germany to the Allies after the much controversial suicide of Adolf Hitler, a viral thread on Twitter by Florence Schechter states that it was apparently a ‘typo’ that sealed the deal. Interestingly, Schechter’s tweets have again highlighted the popular story of Geoffrey Tandy, a biologist who was mistaken to be a codebreaker and sent along with a team of renowned cryptographers at Bletchley Park. Starting the thread with, “Let me tell you a story about how a typo helped end World War Two… (thread),” Schechter added a bit of drama of her tweets by using several GIFs assuming the reaction of the people who would be reading them.

It did not take long for her post to garner attention and go viral. The thread had received over 9,000 re-tweets and 17,000 likes, at the time of writing. Right after, she began the story of Tandy with, “The year was 1939. Geoffrey Tandy, a Brit who at the time was working for…”

Wondering what it is all about? Here, give it a read:

Let me tell you a story about how a typo helped end World War Two… (thread) pic.twitter.com/HxismWwlzE

— Florence Schechter (@floschechter) April 9, 2018

The year was 1939. Geoffrey Tandy, a Brit who at the time was working for @NHM_London, signs up to volunteer with the Royal Navy Reserves (@RNReserve). pic.twitter.com/Zh1DYST393

— Florence Schechter (@floschechter) April 9, 2018

The Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) saw his papers and was all like “WOAH! This guy is the best cryptogramist in the world! Send him to @bletchleypark THIS INSTANT!” pic.twitter.com/hDdKTwA9GC

— Florence Schechter (@floschechter) April 9, 2018

Geoffrey gets told he has a special mission and arrives at Bletchley Park which was a total secret at the time, so poor Geoff had no idea what was going on. pic.twitter.com/7RFnot5Bbs

— Florence Schechter (@floschechter) April 9, 2018

They show him the enigma machine and are like “dude, you gotta help us crack it – you’re the best cryptogrammist in all of the UK!”. And poor Geoff is like “this is super awks, I’m a cryptoGAMMIST not a cryptoGRAMMIST. I’m not a specialist in codes, I’m a specialist in algae…” pic.twitter.com/tJymArsZ1k

— Florence Schechter (@floschechter) April 9, 2018

And they’re like, “I’m really sorry but since Bletchley Park is totes secret, you’re just gonna have to stay here. But I guess you could give it a go?”. pic.twitter.com/8aimB8kdBa

— Florence Schechter (@floschechter) April 9, 2018

Poor Geoff does nothing for TWO YEARS. Probably sitting on the grass and looking Alan Turing’s butt which I assume was da bomb. pic.twitter.com/S2LYzqxc6d

— Florence Schechter (@floschechter) April 9, 2018

After giving a brief about Tandy, Schechter shifts to the main point. She goes on to write, “UNTIL 1941…. when the allies torpedoed a German U-boat and managed to salvage a load of documents including a BIGRAM TABLE (!!!) which is like super duper important because they show how to unscramble messages through the enigma machine!”

UNTIL 1941…. when the allies torpedoed a German U-boat and managed to salvage a load of documents including a BIGRAM TABLE (!!!) which is like super duper important because they show how to unscramble messages through the enigma machine! pic.twitter.com/fTdGkZ94IN

— Florence Schechter (@floschechter) April 9, 2018

But there’s one major problem… all the papers are so soggy they are basically unusable. All was lost! But then Geoffrey FUCKING TANDY saved the day like the scientist badass he is. He was like “GUYS! I am a cryptoGAMMIST, remember! DRYING OUT WATERLOGGED THINGS IS WHAT I DOOOO” pic.twitter.com/rLhOHdWBAq

— Florence Schechter (@floschechter) April 9, 2018

If it weren’t for him, Benedict Cumberbatch’s lookalike Alan Turing wouldn’t have been able to do his thang. GO TANDY!

So a big up to scientists in unexpected places. And if anyone ever tells you off for a typo, tell them his story. pic.twitter.com/LVmY1MGU2A

— Florence Schechter (@floschechter) April 9, 2018

She went on to finish her thread with a logical question which must have occurred to many of you.”P.S. the thing that always makes me laugh about this story is that at no point did anyone at Bletchley Park or the Ministry of Defence question why a code breaker was working at the NATURAL HISTORY museum. Like, WHY,” she wrote and added authenticity to her story with a couple of sources.

P.S. the thing that always makes me laugh about this story is that at no point did anyone at Bletchley Park or the Ministry of Defence question why a code breaker was working at the NATURAL HISTORY museum. Like, WHY. pic.twitter.com/T6whIi0ZxZ

— Florence Schechter (@floschechter) April 9, 2018

Here are references if you want to read more: https://t.co/cIWKgTZR9thttps://t.co/aF73X5Av7Lhttps://t.co/Q5SC89dpkEhttps://t.co/FCHe2SI7ZF pic.twitter.com/aq72Hy7uj7

— Florence Schechter (@floschechter) April 9, 2018
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