During World War II, the biggest battles were fought on the front lines, but some were carried out in some other places. In suburbs, in the minds of mathematicians, or along country roads by people who looked just like your neighbors. We now understand they were clerks, social workers, and engineers who lived double lives. They didn’t wear uniforms or seek medals, but their secret work saved millions of lives and shaped the outcome of the war. These are the stories of the ordinary heroes who lived right next door.
#1: Alan Turing
To his neighbors, Alan Turing was just a Cambridge math professor, a bit awkward and often seen riding his bicycle through the countryside. Behind this exterior was a mind working to save the world. In secret at Bletchley Park, Turing designed and built the “Bombe,” an incredible machine that cracked Nazi Germany’s Enigma code. Experts estimate his breakthrough shortened the war in Europe by two to four years, laying the foundation for the modern computer in the process. In 2013, he received a pardon for his private life.
