Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1916-1973, predominant 1916-1945 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
12.5 cm of textual records.
170 photographs.
7 film reels.
2 audio cassettes.
1 audio reel
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Wilfrid Reid "Wop" May, 1896-1952, was born in Carberry, Manitoba, and moved to Edmonton with his family in 1902. He began his flying career during the First World War, where he fought in the 1918 battle in which Baron von Richthofen was shot down. On his return to Canada in 1919 he began flying commercially. In 1924 he married Violet Bode, and they had one son, Denny Reid, 1935-, and an adopted daughter, Joyce. May was the founder and first instructor at the Edmonton Aero Club, 1927-1929. The family moved to Fort McMurray in 1929 and May became a bush pilot. He made a mercy flight, carrying diphtheria serum, to Fort Vermilion during the 1929 epidemic in the isolated community. He started the Mackenzie River air mail route from Fort McMurray to Aklavik, NWT. In 1932 he assisted in the capture of Albert Johnson, the "Mad Trapper", in the Yukon.
He received the Order of the British Empire in 1935 for his outstanding flying career. In 1936 he was employed by Canadian Airways (later Canadian Pacific Airlines). During the Second World War he ran the No. 2 Air Observer School at Edmonton. After the war he resumed his position as director of northern development for CPA. In 1974 the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada designated May as a National Historic Person.
For more details see The Bush Pilots / J.A. Foster. - Toronto : McClelland and Stewart, 1990; Wop May : Bush Pilot / Iris Allan. -- Toronto : Clarke, Irwin & Company, 1966; and Wings of a Hero : Canadian Pioneer Flying Ace Wop May / Sheila Reid, 1997.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Gifts of Violet May, Denny May and Doris Littlewood, 1965-1973.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The fonds consists of correspondence (1919-1936); military certificates, log books and combat reports (1916-1919); aviation certificates and log books (1919-1932); recorded interview (1945); and miscellaneous personal and aviation records. Includes a recorded interview with Violet May about her husband (1973); recording of a memorial program broadcast by CBC (1952); photographs of northern aviation and the Air Observer School; and films about postal service on the Mackenzie, the Yellowknife Royal Visit, Dawson City, Great Bear Lake region, and oil well drilling and construction in the North (ca. 1930-1950).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No restrictions on access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
The material is in English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
No finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Digital content is available: https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/Package/2R3BF1S3HB7GJ
Related units of description
May family photos are also held by the Northwest Territories Archives, and Library and Archives Canada. Other records are held by the Provincial Archives of Alberta, City of Edmonton Archives, and Fort McMurray Historical Park. See also http://wopmay. com.
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of records.
Note
NA 1258 are copies of PD 68.
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Description control area
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Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Tuesday, January 30, 2018