Fonds 18 - Wop May fonds

Wilfrid 'Wop' Reid May (1896-1952) was born at Carberry, Manitoba, March 20, 1896. He was the son of Alexander E. May of Wellington County, Ontario and Elizabeth Reid of Teswater, Ontario. He was educated in public schools in Edmonton and attended Western Canada College in Calgary and Alberta College in Edmonton. He was married in November 1924 to Violet A. Bode and they had one son, Denny.

'Wop' May learned to fly in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. He gained notoreity because he was the unintentional decoy in the last flight of Baron von Richtofen, famed World War I flying ace. May, on his first R.F.C. combat flight was being chased by the "Red Baron" when Captain Roy Brown noticed the action. Richtofen was brought down by Captain Brown and died in that 1918 crash. Throughout his career with the R.F.C, May brought down 13 enemy planes. After returning to Canada, he organized Edmonton's first airline, May Airplanes Ltd. He travelled extensively in the Northwest Territories and is remembered as a famous bush pilot involved with many mercy flights, including a flight into a small community near Fort Vermillion in 1928 to deliver diptheria serum. He made the first ever scheduled mail flight from Edmonton to Aklavik and in 1932, he flew the plane that guided Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officers in their chase of Albert Johnson, known as the "Mad Trapper of Rat River." He was awarded the McKee Trophy for his contributions to aviation and he was also awarded the O.B.E. (Order of the British Empire). In 1936, he was given an executive post by Canadian Airlines Ltd., which was later absorbed by Canadian Pacific Airlines. He filled various posts in Edmonton and eventually transferred to Calgary. In 1943, he organized a first-aid parachute crew, a plan he had been considering for years while becoming convinced that pilots who crashed in remote areas might survive if given treatment early enough.

'Wop' May died in January 1952 of a heart attack he suffered while climbing a trail to the Tinapanogos Cave National Monument in Provo, Utah.