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Wilfrid May [Canada]

Name:Wilfrid Reid "Wop" May
Country:Canada
Rank:Captain
Service:Royal Flying Corps
Royal Air Force
Squadrons:209
Victories:13
Born:20 March 1896
Place of Birth:Carberry, Manitoba
Died:21 June 1952
Place of Death:Provo, Utah
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)Wilfrid May

Notes
Wilfrid May was born in Carberry, a thriving farm community on the windswept prairie of Manitoba. The youngest son of Alexander and Elizabeth May, "Wop" got his nickname in 1903 when a young cousin had difficulty pronouncing his given name.

On 21 April 1918, May seemed destined to become the 81st victim of Manfred von Richthofen. As the Red Baron pursued May's Sopwith Camel over the trenches,  Arthur Brown intervened with a burst of Vickers machine gun fire. Brown observed the German look back over his shoulder before seeming to slump forward in the cockpit. Moments later, the Red Baron's Fokker DR.I crashed to the ground.


Wilfrid May's biography, "Wings of a Hero" by Sheila Reid, was published in 1997. To learn more about Canadian ace "Wop" May, please visit WopMay.com.

Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)
"This officer has carried out numerous offensive and low bombing patrols, proving himself on all occasions a bold and daring pilot. He has accounted for seven enemy machines; two of these he destroyed in one flight. His keenness and disregard of personal danger is worthy of the highest praise." DFC citation, London Gazette, 3 December 1918

Quotes
"It was war. We were defending our country. We had a strict code of honor: you didn't shoot down a cripple and you kept it a fair fight." Wilfrid May

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