MARY SHEEHY MOE If you were to credit a single individual with defeating Hitler, it wouldnât be a statesman or a general. It would be a British mathematician â Alan Turing. Turing figured out how to beat Enigma, the machine that used over 150 trillion possibilities to change German military codes every eight hours. Turingâs breakthrough gave the Allies access to information that led to victories on land and at sea. Indeed, since outwitting Enigma was what secured the Atlantic, Turing made D-Day itself possible. How was he rewarded? Seven years after V-E Day, Turing notified police that his home had been burgled. When apprehended, the burglar accused Turing of something deemed far more serious at the time: perversion ⦠specifically, âgross indecency.â The police questioned Turing, who, believing they were investigating the burglary, confirmed his dalliance with another man in that very same home.