Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Bayan dawowarsa Amurka a tsakiyar 1942, Wilkes ya halarci Kwalejin Yakin Naval, sannan ya zama Kwamandan Kwamandan sabon jirgin ruwa mai haske, ya kai ta zuwa Bahar Rum don shiga cikin mamayewar Sicily a watan Yulin 1943. Daga watan Agusta 1943 Rear Admiral Wilkes yana da umarni na rundunar amphibious a Ingila da Faransa, suna taka muhimmiyar rawa a shirye-shiryen mamayewar Normandy a watan Yunin 1944, da mamayewar Kudancin Faransa
watanni biyu bayan haka. Yayin da Allied ground offensive ya koma Jamus, Wilkes ya kasance mai kula da tashar jiragen ruwa na Amurka da kuma Bases a Faransa, yana taimakawa wajen kai hare-haren tare da gudanar da kayan aiki.