Wilbur Harrison Elliott enlisted on 20 Feb 1942, at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. He was assigned to a B24-D named "Satan's Chariot" (Ser: B-24D-CO 41-24025) of the 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 409th Bombardment Squadron originally based at Barksdale Army Air Field, outside Shreveport, Louisiana, then moved to Meyers, Florida. After three months at Ft. Meyers, the 93rd moved to Grenier Field, New Hampshire and began preparing to fly across the North Atlantic to their new base at Alconbury, England. On 27 Aug 1942 in Manchester, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Wilbur married Helen Frances Schoentrup of Shelbyville, Shelby County, Indiana. On 5 Sep 1942 the B-24s left New Hampshire for England but were weathered-in at a field in Newfoundland for five days before they were able to continue. One of the group's B-24D Liberators and crew was lost at sea during the flight. The 93rd Group was the first American B-24s to arrive in Europe.
On 31 March 1943, twenty-four B-24s and seventy-eight B-17s took off on mission #25 to bomb the wharves and dock area at Rotterdam, Holland. Four of the six bomb groups were recalled because of strong winds and thick clouds. "Satan's Chariot" was one of the planes recalled to England. The plane was last seen heading west for England with one engine on fire. "Satan's Chariot" was shot down by Oberlieutenant Otto “Stotter” Stammberger, his fourth (of seven) Allied aircraft shot down. He saw the pilot, Bill Williams, crash the B-24 into the sea shortly after 12:45 p.m. on 31 March 1943 about 60 miles off Ostend, Belgium, the only plane lost on that mission. He observed there were no survivors. Of the 10 crew members, 9 are still missing and among the 5,127 on "Tablets of the Missing" in the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in Cambridgeshire, England. Only the body of T/Sgt Alfred Windle, engineer, was found on 23 Jul 1943 washed ashore on a beach in England.Crew members of “Satan's Chariot" were: 1st LT Bill F Williams, pilot; 1st LT Earl C Kent, copilot; 1st LT Richard H Schoenberger, navigator: 1st LT Carlus Turner, bombardier; T/Sgt Alfred I Windle, engineer; T/Sgt Louis B Kirkpatrick, radio operator; S/Sgt Lester C Rambo Ball, turret gunner; S/Sgt Wilber Harrison Elliott, left waist gunner; S/Sgt James N Thomas, right waist gunner; and S/Sgt Vincent O McMahon Jr, tail gunner The Allies lost over 6,000 bombers in 1942 and over 11,000 in 1943. The chances of a British bomber being shot down over Germany was 63% and an American bomber about 55%. Ford Motor’s Willow Run Plant near Detroit, the largest factory in the US, began making B-24s in August 1943. At its peak they produced one B-24s every two hours.On 13 May 1943, Spitfires shot Stammberger down near Saint Omer, Belgium. He bailed out, but his parachute only partially opened. He suffered a concussion when he hit the ground, recovered consciousness 10 days later in the St Omer Hospital, but had serious burns and was not permitted to fly combat again. Post war, Stammberger became the manager of a large department store. He passed away on 11 July 2001, aged 81. He had flown 104 missions in WW II.