Ellera volunteered for military service as the US entered the war, and aimed to serve in the Army Air Corps. Eventually he went through navigator school, completed it, and served on the B-17 numbered 42-5262 (PU-F) 303BG/360BS.

9-Feb-42 Assigned as Navigator on B-17F 42-5262, 303BG/360BS at Molesworth, UK. 303BG records do not indicate that he was in the original complement of aircraft and crews of the 303BG at Molesworth, UK in October 1942. It seems likely that he was part of a replacement crew and was processed through one of the Combat Crew Replacment Centers prior to his assigment with the 303BG.

Shot down over the Bay of Biscay on March 6th, 1943, Ellera survived substantial shrapnel wounds and was ocean-bound on a liferaft until he and the surviving B-17 crewmen were picked up.

An excerpt of mission #20 to Lorient, France, from the 303rd Bomb Group's website, 303rdbg.com:

"Lt Plocher reached a life raft where Lt's Corwin and Kahlden, with their life jackets on, were bobbing in the water. Lt Plocher boarded the life raft and pulled the other two aboard. They then spotted the other life raft with five crewmen aboard. They managed to tie the two rafts together. As the sun began to set, the crew heard an aircraft. A German fighter spotted them and flashed its landing lights before veering away. Around midnight, all of the crew shivering from the cold and wet after floating for 12 hours, saw a light sweeping the water some distance away. A loud and clear English speaking voice asked who we were. Again the voice spoke and was recognized as having a German accent. The German vessel approached the rafts and lowered a 30-foot ladder. Lt Plocher was the last crewman to make the climb. The seven surviving crewmen spent the next 26 months as POWs. Wounded Tail Gunner, S/Sgt Tornow, was repatriated by the Germans."

Participated in 3 Operations (NO aborts) See Biogrpahy events.

Service

Events

Event	Location	Date
Born	Minnesota, USA	1917
Minnesota
Assigned to Aircraft	Molesworth, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28, UK	9 February 1943
Assigned as Navigator on B-17F 42-5262, 303BG/360BS at Molesworth, UK.
Mission #1, 2LT Ellera J. Corwin, w/B-17F 42-5262, 303BG/360BS	Wilhelmshaven, Germany	26 February 1943
Served as Navigator of B-17F 42-5262, 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the naval facilities and U-Boat pens at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. RTB OK
Mission #2, 2LT Ellera J. Corwin, w/B-17F 42-5723, 303BG/360BS	Brest, France	27 February 1943
Served as Navigator of B-17F 42-5723, 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the port area and U-Boat pens at Brest France. RTB OK.
Based	Molesworth	6 March 1943
Mission #3, 2LT Ellera J. Corwin, w/B-17F 42-5262, 303BG/360BS - POW	Lorient, France	6 March 1943
Served as Navigator of B-17F 42-5262, 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France. Aircraft was shot down by fighters but the pilot managed to ditch the aircraft into the Bay of Biscay. He and 7 other airmen were able to get in rafts and were eventually captured by the Germans. Two other crew were KIA in the attack.
Prisoner of War - Camp 1	Moosburg, Germany	7 March 1943 – 13 October 1943
Held at Stalag 7A, Moosburg, Bavaria until 13-Oct-43, then relocated to Stalag 17B, Braunau-Gneikendorf (near Krems) Austria until liberted by American forces on 15-Apr-45.
Last Report Date - Discharged		8 June 1945
Evacuated to the United States and Discharged.
Prisoner of War - Camp 2	Krems an der Donau, Austria	13 October 1945
Held at Stalag 17B, Braunau-Gneikendorf (near Krems), Austria until liberated by the 3rd Army (Patton) on 15-Apr-45.