Our Heroes
Buckam Singh:
In Flanders Fields
by APRIL ROBINSON
In a quiet corner of a Kitchener graveyard rests the headstone of Pte. Buckam Singh, one of the first Sikhs to live in Ontario, Canada, and one of nine Sikh-Canadians known so far who served with Canadian forces in the First World War.
But it wasn't until a Toronto Sikh war historian found his Victory medal that Buckam Singh's tale was discovered.
"He's a genuine hero," said Sandeep Singh Brar, who bought the medal from a dealer in England about a year ago.
At first he thought the medal was for a soldier from India - like others he collects.
But his stomach twisted with excitement when he read the inscription along the bottom.
Buckam Singh was part of the 20th Canadian Infantry.
The medal listed his name, rank and registration number.
"Using that, I went to Ottawa and tracked down his military records," Brar said. "And it opened up a whole can of worms."
He discovered Buckam Singh served alongside other Canadians in Flanders Fields in 1916 and was injured twice: once by shrapnel in the head, and again by a gunshot in the leg.
He was treated in the hospital run by Guelph's Lt. Col. John McCrae.
While recovering, Singh contracted tuberculosis and was sent to Freeport Hospital in Kitchener - then run by the Canadian army. He died a year later, at the age of 25, in 1919.
"He had no family, or no one to come visit him," Sandeep said.
Buckam Singh was buried in Kitchener's Mount Hope Cemetery.
Sandeep believes his grave is the only one in Canada currently known as belonging to a Sikh-Canadian who fought in the First World War.
There is no way to know if Buckam Singh experienced racism as one of the few Sikhs in the infantry. But his records noted only "good conduct," and the fact the military noted his religion and birthplace on his gravestone is a sign of respect, Sandeep said.
His family - in a remote village in the Punjab province of India - knew nothing about his time at war. They just received a notice when he died.
But they hadn't seen Buckam Singh since he left home at 14, when he voyaged across the ocean to British Columbia. Four years later, he moved to Ontario. Sandeep only knows of one other Sikh who lived in the province at that time.
After living in Toronto for two years, Buckam Singh worked as a labourer on a farm near Pickering.
His story has become an obsession for Sandeep, who's an internet marketing consultant by day. He's created a website, sikhmuseum.com, to showcase his findings.
"I've spent so much time researching him, it's like chasing a shadow, or a ghost," he said. "You get glimpses of his personality."
To accomplish all he did, Buckam Singh must have been bursting with adventure, strength and intrigue, Sandeep said.
And he's amazed that nearly a century later, the story has come full circle, landing in the hands of the Sikh-Canadian community.
It makes us proud, says Sandeep. "We helped form Canada's history."
To learn more about Private Buckam Singh and his remarkable story, visit www.sikhmuseum.com .
[Courtesy: The Record] story
November 10, 2008
PLEASE JOIN US ON REMEMBRANCE DAY 2008
Ceremony marking Sikh-Canadians' First World War Contributions
Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 11 am sharp, at Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Ontario
Program:
National Anthem: "O Canada"
Poem: "In Flanders Field"
Call to Remembrance
"Last Post" - Bugle
2 Minutes Silence
Laying of the Wreaths
Ardaas - Sikh congregational prayer
Conversation about this article
1: Harbakhsh Singh Grewal (Surbiton, England ), November 10, 2008, 5:27 PM.
Congratulations on uncovering this important story. It was interesting to note that the war dead from the two World Wars from undivided India quoted by the BBC TV's live coverage of Remembrance Sunday here in the U.K. were greater than those of any of the predominantly white Commonwealth countries who got to lay wreaths ahead of the Indian and Pakistani representatives at the Cenotaph. These are the forgotten heroes of the two World Wars, remembered only as a footnote by the "white" nations and largely forgotten by their own people.
2: Arjan Singh (Brampton, Canada), November 10, 2008, 9:04 PM.
My Dad is Sandeep. I am his 12-year old son and I actually was the first Sikh to ever see Buckam Singh's grave because my Dad was lost in the graveyard, but then I found the grave.
3: Shamsher Singh (Leeds, England), November 11, 2008, 8:33 AM.
The key words in John McCrae's seminal poem (reproduced by you hereinabove) are: "If ye break faith with us who die // We shall not sleep, though poppies grow // In Flanders fields." I have read elsewhere of a similar sentiment expressed on a cenotaph in Kohima (Assam, India) honouring the thousands of soldiers (mostly Sikhs) who died for the Allied cause in resisting the Japanese advance into India during WWII: "When you go home // Tell them of us, and say, // For their tomorrow // We gave our today." I'm afraid the people who benefitted the most from these sacrifices have betrayed their trust over and over again. France, which was defended and liberated by Sikh blood in both World Wars, now prohibits Sikhs from wearing turbans in many of its key institutions. The Royal Canadian Legion does not permit turbanned Sikhs into its inner sanctums. Remember what McCrae said ... "We shall not sleep ..."! And the dead do not forget either! Beware - Life does have its own ways of correcting such grievous wrongs ...
4: Gurmeet Kaur (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), November 11, 2008, 9:54 AM.
What an incredible find! Thank you, Sandeep Singh, for honouring the life of Buckam Singh. I am confused as to why is he being referred to as Buckam Singh. His grave and death certificate clearly spell his name as Bukkan Singh. Here are the contents of his Death Certificate: "In Memory of Private BUKKAN SINGH - 454819, 38th Bn., Canadian Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regiment), who died age 25 on 27 August 1919. Son of the late Badan Singh, husband of Pritam Kaur, of Jamshahr, Jullundur, Punjab, India. Remembered with honour - KITCHENER (MOUNT HOPE) CEMETERY. Commemorated in perpetuity by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission." [Editor: The West has always been careless and negligent with non-English names. It appears that different spellings of the name are recorded in his military service documentation, as compared to the gravestone and 'death certificate'.]
5: Pritam Singh Grewal (Canada), November 11, 2008, 2:13 PM.
This article reminds me of the days when I taught English to the students of Punjab colleges, decades ago. They came from Sikh farming families with little or no English-speaking background. Imagine those youths grappling with a foreign language and literature which had nothing in common with their culture. I vividly recall those sons and daughters of Punjabi peasants and soldiers studying John McCrae's moving poem "In Flanders Fields". Almost every student had someone of his or her family who had fought along with the Allies in the World Wars and every village had its sad share of war widows and missing soldiers. It is amazing to know about the discovery of the burial of Sardar Buckam Singh in a Kitchener cemetery, so close to McCrae's birth place, Guelph.
6: Sandeep Singh Brar (Toronto, Canada), November 11, 2008, 3:53 PM.
Buckam Singh's name was spelled in a variety of ways during his lifetime: 1) Buk Am Singh - Attestation papers. 2) Bukam Singh - Signature on attestation. 3) Buckm S. - Medical report. 4) Bukum Singh - Toronto Daily Star Article. 5) Buckam Singh - Signature on discharge. 6) Bukkan Singh - Gravestone. 7) B. A. Singh - Victory medal. For the sake of consistency, "Buckam Singh", the spelling he used in his last known signature, has been used.
7: Abnash Singh Nijjor (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), November 10, 2015, 1:31 PM.
My hat goes off to Sandeep Singh for his continuous and tireless efforts to uncover and present us with the accomplishments of this Sikh war-hero.