Captain Clifford "Kip" L. Wonderly
U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) B-25 Mitchell Pilot
3rd Bombardment Group (3rd BG), 90th Bombardment Squadron (90th BS)

Background
Clifford L. Wonderly was born on February 15, 1915 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Nicknamed "Kip". He completed three years of high school. On December 18, 1941 enlisted in in Pittsburgh, PA in the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as an aviation cadet with serial number 13039968. Wonderly attended flight school, earned his wings was comissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and sent overseas to Australia.

Wartime History
Assigned to the 3rd Bombardment Group (3rd BG), 90th Bombardment Squadron (90th BS) as a B-25 Mitchell co-pilot and pilot. He was promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant and later to Captain. In total, he flew 57 combat missions in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA).

Wonderly flew as co-pilot for B-25C "Miss Snafu" 41-12487 assigned to pilot Lt. Robert D. Chatt. He also flew B-25C "Feather Merchant" 41-12442 and B-25D "Feather Merchant 2" 41-30246.

On May 24, 1943 took off piloting B-25D "Junior Bat" 41-29697 from Horanda Airfield (Horanda 4) on a search mission for a Japanese submarine and afterwards landed at 7 Mile Drome near Port Moresby.

Postwar
Wonderly continued in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) as a pilot and flew the Boeing B-47 Stratojet and other aircraft until he retired in 1964.

Memorials
Wonderly passed away April 5, 2005. He is buried at Greenwood Cemetery Orlando, FL at unit 8.

Relatives
Scott Wonderly (son)

References
NARA World War II Army Enlistment Records - Clifford L. Wonderly
FindAGrave - Clifford L. Wonderly (grave photo)
Thanks to Scott Wonderly for additional information

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