When people say they’ve got a story to tell on Twitter it doesn’t always live up to expectation.

And sometimes these threads go viral just because they are just so extraordinary and really beautifully told. This is one of those stories …

1.

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

2.

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

3.

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

4.

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

5.

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

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