Who is wop may

In , the family moved to Edmonton, where May grew up. He became a machine gun instructor and held the rank of sergeant by the time the battalion was shipped overseas in November see First World War. He graduated from training on 28 February , with the rank of Lieutenant. His flight commander was Captain Roy Brown. His guns jammed and he tried to escape the dogfight.

Captain Brown saw May in danger and fired a machine gun burst at Richthofen. The German plane crashed seconds later. Brown was credited with shooting down the Red Baron.

For courage in action during the Battle of Amiens in August , in which he was wounded, May was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. See also The Great War in the Air. Wop May returned to Canada after the war. The company became May-Gorman Aeroplanes Ltd. Wop May had his name written on the top wing of his biplane so crowds would know who the pilot was when he flew it upside-down. In September , Wop May participated in the first police manhunt in Canada to use aircraft.

John Larson, a recently paroled convict, was the principal suspect in the murder of Edmonton Police Constable William Nixon.

With no suitable fields in the vicinity, May landed his biplane on a street in the town. Soon after, Campbell and another police officer apprehended Larson and he was taken back to Edmonton by train. May went to work for the National Cash Register Company in Dayton, Ohio, where a training accident left him partly blinded in one eye. It operated from Blatchford Field, a location that is now part of a downtown Edmonton redevelopment.

From that field, May and his co-pilot, Vic Horner, embarked on a flight that would make international headlines. It could take as long as two months to transport serum to the afflicted community overland by dogsled , and time was of the essence in preventing an epidemic.

At the request of Dr. Denny spent most of his adult life visiting schools and museums sharing stories about his father. He completed speaking events and spoke to an estimated 12, people.

The documentary will be available to stream on the Edmonton International Film Festival website beginning Monday until the end of the month. Wop has a distinguished list of historic flights. He's speaking with Denny May, son of the famed bush pilot.

They talk about how he got his nickname "Wop" and how his career evolved after he returned from World War One as an honoured recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross.

It has never been confirmed whether he was downed by May's squadron leader, Roy Brown as credited by the RAF or by an anti-aircraft machine gunner on the ground. There were cases of diptheria in the remote settlement of Little Red River, which was nearly 1, kilometres north of Edmonton.

The request for help had to be delivered by dogsled to Peace River, a kilometre journey from Little Red River, so a telegraph could be sent to Edmonton for the needed serum and medical equipment.

That journey began Dec. The request was wired to Edmonton, the supplies were gathered, and on January 2 May and Horner set out in their open cockpit Avro Avion. They arrived at Fort Vermilion late afternoon the next day, and the serum and equipment were carried to Little Red River that night.