Wop May family name May
Early life
May was born in Carberry, Manitoba, the son of a carriage maker. His family moved to Edmonton in 1902. On the way, they stayed with family and friends; his two-year-old cousin, Mary Lumsden, could not pronounce Wilfrid and called him "Woppie". This gave him his nickname "Wop". He attended the Edmonton High School (now Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts) while in Edmonton.First World War
May joined the Canadian Army in February 1916 during the First World War. He rose through the enlisted ranks to sergeant and spent most of 1916 as a gunnery instructor in Canada. In 1917, his battalion, the 202nd battalion C.E.F. (Edmonton Sportsmen), was shipped to England, where he and his friend Ray Ross applied to join the Royal Flying Corps. His first flight resulted in the accidental destruction of his own and another aircraft; nevertheless, the RFC accepted his application, and May resigned from the Canadian Army. After initial training in London in October, he was moved to a fighter training squadron and graduated in February 1918.
On April 9, 1918, Lieutenant May was transferred to No. 209 Squadron of the newly created Royal Air Force (the squadron being a unit of the Royal Naval Air Service until April 1, when the RAF was created). The squadron was commanded by another Canadian, May's former school friend Roy Brown, who had never lost a subordinate pilot. May spent a few days getting used to his Sopwith Camel and was sent to France.
May fought his first aerial combat on April 20, 1918. The German Fokker Triplane he was duelling crashed of its own accord during the brief fight.
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