Wilfrid Reid May

Wilfrid Reid (Wop) May, OBE, DFC, was born in Carberry, Manitoba, on March 20, 1896. He moved with his family to Edmonton, Alberta, in 1902, and attended school in Edmonton and Calgary. In 1916 he enlisted with the 202nd City of Edmonton Sportsmens' Battalion, and gained the rank of Sergeant Gunner. He went with the Canadian Expeditionary Force to England later that year and served as an instructor before applying for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps. He qualified for his wings at the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) School of Instruction at Acton, England, and took higher instruction with 94 Squadron, RFC. With only 55 hours flying time logged, Lieutenant May was posted to the RFC 209th (9th Naval) Squadron in France on April 9th, 1918, as a fighter pilot.

On April 20, 1918, during an aerial engagement over enemy territory, attacked one aircraft and ended up in a dogfight. His guns jammed he headed back towards his base at Bertangles but was then attacked by the 'Red Baron', Manfred von Richthofen who followed him over the Somme River. Flight Commander A. Roy Brown attacked Richthofen causing him to break off the chase. The ‘Red Baron’ was shot down by a single shot from the ground. By the end of World War I, Captain May had destroyed 13 enemy aircraft, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).

In 1919 May returned to Edmonton and  with his brother Court formed May Airplanes Limited, the first air service at Edmonton. He made the first commercial flight from May Field in west Edmonton on June 2, 1919.  The company engaged in barnstorming activities and operated a flying school in Edmonton. He was granted the Aero Club of Canada Air Aviators Certificate No. 451 (Pilot’s Licence No. 49) in July 1919, and in 1920 he received Commercial Pilot's Licence No. 7. He also held Air Engineers Certificate No. A726. In 1921 he was granted a commission in the Canadian Air Force and completed a refresher course in navigation at Camp Borden, Ontario.

Imperial Oil Limited decided to use freighter aircraft for their Northwest Territories oil operations at Fort Norman. Imperial Oil hired Wop and George Gorman to ferry two Junkers-Larsen JL-6 monoplanes from New York to Edmonton in January 1921. These aircraft became known as 'Vic' and 'Rene', and were flown by George Gorman and Elmer Fullerton for Imperial Oil on an oil exploration trip deep into the Northwest Territories.

May continued to fly commercially, and his unshakeable faith in Edmonton's air future encouraged him to establish Canada's first commercial airport at Blatchford Field in 1927. The same year he founded the Edmonton and Northern Alberta Aero Club, and was named its first President. With partners Cy Becker and Vic Horner, he founded Commercial Airways at Edmonton and became their Chief Pilot.

On January 2-6, 1929, May and co-pilot Vic Horner flew a mercy mission in a two-seater open cockpit Avro Avian aircraft from Edmonton to Fort Vermilion, Alberta, a distance of some 600 miles (965 km). For the most part, their route was over sparsely inhabited country. They encountered many snow storms and temperatures below -30°F (-33°C). The purpose of the flight was to carry diphtheria anti-toxin to combat a diphtheria epidemic at the isolated post of Little Red River. Urgent action was necessary and no other means of transport would have met the need. The serum was wrapped with a charcoal warmer to keep it from freezing. Their flight was successful, and the serum did the job. This aerial drama captured the attention of the world press and gave further stature to Canadian 'Bush Pilots'. May's heroism was rewarded with civic and provincial honours.

Later in 1929 Commercial Airways was awarded the Mackenzie River district airmail contract and he organized a group of five aircraft on the first official air mail flight to the Arctic. He was pilot of one of the two aircraft that went on to Aklavik. This 1,600 mile (2,575 km) flight was the first winter air voyage to the Arctic. May was awarded the Trans-Canada (McKee) Trophy in 1929 in recognition of his work in organizing air services to outlying districts.

May's company, Commercial Airways, was absorbed by Canadian Airways in 1931, and May and his wife Vi were transferred to Fort McMurray, Alberta. He served as a pilot for their northern services, and carried mail to communities in Northern Alberta. In January 1932, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) commissioned him to work with them in the search for the man known as the 'Mad Trapper' (known as Albert Johnson), who had terrorized local trappers and killed an RCMP officer. Flying a ski-equipped Bellanca, May's 16-day aerial quest took him to Aklavik and through the Mackenzie Mountains ferrying passengers, and food and gear to the searchers. He spotted the elusive 'Mad Trapper' on the Porcupine River, 175 miles (280 km) from the Alaska border, from the air on February 16th and informed the RCMP posse. He and his air mechanic, Jack Bowen, watched the final shoot-out on the following day. On February 18 he flew a wounded RCMP officer, the RCMP Inspector, and the body of the 'Mad Trapper' back to Aklavik.

In 1935 he was named Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his numerous contributions to Canadian aviation. The following year he was named Superintendent of the Mackenzie River District of Canadian Airways and was transferred back to Edmonton.

Early in World War II he was appointed Supervisor of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) schools in Western Canada, operated by Canadian Airways Ltd. He served as Manager of No. 2 Air Observer School at Edmonton from 1942 to 1946. During this time he conceived the idea of aerial rescue crews to assist ferry pilots and other fliers who went down in northern British Columbia and the Yukon en route to Alaska. He recruited and trained a team of paramedics who volunteered their services to parachute into crash sites, saving the lives of many airmen. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Freedom with Bronze Palm by the United States Government in 1947.

In 1947 May was appointed Director of Northern Development by Canadian Pacific Airlines (CPA), with the task of opening air bases in Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alaska, and northern British Columbia. In 1949 he was transferred to Vancouver as Director of Development for CPA and for two years worked to open bases in the Far East and the South Pacific.

In 1951 he was transferred to Calgary as Manager of CPA (Repairs) Ltd., and undertook the task of forming the company, recruiting employees and building the operation at RCAF Station Lincoln Park into a viable operation. The task was to retrieve, repair and test operational aircraft that had crashed.

On June 21, 1952, while hiking with his son, Denny, to Timpanogos Cave National Monument near Provo, Utah, May died of a heart attack at age 56.

In 1929 Wop May was awarded the Trans-Canada McKee Trophy “In recognition of his work in organizing air services to outlying districts”. Several Canadian landmarks carry his name: Wopmay Lake & Wopmay River (SSE of Great Bear Lake, N.W.T.) and Lake May (in the NW corner of Alberta). In 1981 the City of Edmonton recognized Wop May in naming a subdivision in West Edmonton “Mayfield”. In 2004 "Wop" May was named as one of the "100 Citizens of Century" by the City of Edmonton. The same year NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project Scientist Dr. John Grotzinger named a rock in Endurance Crater as "Wop May Rock" - John's Uncle Dr. Preston Cloud along with Geologist Dr. Lincoln Washburn were the first two Geologists to visit Victoria Island - they had been flown north by "Wop" May. Several aircraft have been named “The W.R. “Wop” May - Wardair’s Boeing 707, then a Douglas DC-10 and an Airbus A-310, and Pacific Western Airlines’s Boeing 727 Freighter also carried his name.

Wop’s son, Denny, worked with cousin Sheila Reid of Steinbach, Manitoba in writing the Wop May biography “Wings of a Hero” (1997), and wrote & self-published “More Stories About Wop May” (2011). Both books have been revised and in their 5th printing.

Many people have asked where the nickname "Wop" came from.  In 1902 young cousin, Mary Swanson, tried to pronounce Wilfrid - the name came out "Woppie" and was shortened to "Wop" that day and the name stuck.

Wilfrid Reid "Wop" May was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1974 at a ceremony held in Edmonton, Alberta.