commissioned into the united states foreign service in 1931, elbrick was initially appointed vice consul in panama, and then southampton, england. he next served as third secretary at port-au-prince, haiti, before transferring in that rank to warsaw, poland in 1937. in 1939, elbrick followed the polish government into exile after the invasion by the german nazi army. while leaving warsaw in convoy, the diplomatic convoy was strafed by german planes, and elbrick had to leap to cover in a roadside ditch. he joined the polish government-in-exile at angers, france. when the german blitzkrieg smashed into france in the spring of 1940, elbrick had to flee again, this time to spain. he spent most of world war ii as an embassy official in lisbon, and as consul in tangier. during this time he added portuguese to his other foreign languages, which were german, french and spanish.