Scion of a distinguished North Carolina family, alumnus of the University of North Carolina Law School, businessman, banker, lawyer, gentleman farmer, hospital director and philanthropist, George Watts Hill was about as far from the world of espionage and political activism as anyone could be, but Hill ended up playing a pivotal role in the secret war against Hitler during World War II. Dr. Rorin M. Platt, associate professor of history at Campbell University, recounts Hill’s exploits in his article, “A Tar Heel in Cloak: George Watts Hill, Interventionism and the Shadow War against Hitler,” the featured commentary for the on-line North Carolina History Project. Born in New York on October 27, 1901, Hill was an alumnus of the University of North Carolina and its law school before joining his father’s business. He became interested in national and international issues when he met Francis Pickens Miller, a founding member of the Fight for Freedom Committee which included among its members a number of future leaders of the OSS. Hill organized the OSS offices in Washington and London and served as head of the OSS Division of Special Services where he was responsible for all transportation, material and equipment needs of the Special Operations of the OSS, including lethal devices, explosives, camouflage items, forged passports and official documents and foreign clothing for agents sent abroad before and after the D-Day invasion in June 1944. “George Watts Hill played a key role in the secret war against Hitler,” said Platt. “For his effective work and efficient administration, the Italian and French governments respectively awarded him the Cross of War Merit and the Legion of Merit.” Dr. Rorin M. Platt is the book review editor for “American Diplomacy,” the on-line journal whose Web site is based at UNC-Chapel Hill, and a member of the board of directors for American Diplomacy Publishers. A native of Virginia, Platt received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Platt earned a Ph.D. at the University of Maryland at College Park. He has also studied at Georgetown University and at the University of Virginia and taught at a number of institutions. A diplomatic historian who specializes in American intelligence history, Platt has authored two books and a number of articles and book reviews, including “Virginia in Foreign Affairs, 1933-1941.” He is presently writing a history of Virginians who served in America’s World War II intelligence services, “Cavaliers in Cloak: Virginians in the Secret War, 1941-45.” In addition, Platt served as a judge for two sessions at the annual meeting of the North Carolina Association of Historians, “Twentieth Century America II” and “Military History.” The North Carolina History Project is an evolving on-line encyclopedia of North Carolina featuring historical commentaries, lesson plans for teachers and a database of community events.
Campbell’s Platt contributes to North Carolina History Project