Above: Kuldip Kaur Vagha reflects during the ardaas at the grave-site.
Current Events
Canadians Honour First World War Hero
Based on Reports by MELISSA TAIT & CBC
In 1919, Pte. Buckam Singh lay dying in a hospital in Kitchener (Ontario, Canada) from tuberculosis contracted during the First World War.
On Sunday, November 6, 2011, people from from different parts of North America, but mostly members of the Sikh-Canadian community from all over southern Ontario, attended a Remembrance Day ceremony centred around Bucham Singh's military grave at the Kitchener Mount Hope Cemetery.
The annual ceremony was inspired when Sandeep Singh Brar of Brampton discovered Pte. Singh’s grave in 2008 - nearly 90 years after his death.
Buckam Singh was 14 years old when he came to Canada in 1907 from Punjab and settled in Ontario. After joining the 20th Canadian infantry at the start of the First World War, he fought on several battlefields in France and was wounded twice.
He was recovering in an Ontario hospital when he developed tuberculosis and died in 1919.
During the ceremony, some speakers wondered if Buckam Singh could have imagined approx. 200 people circling his gravestone to commemorate him as a war hero in 2010.
Sandeep believes Bucham Singh’s grave is the only known military grave for a Sikh-Canadian soldier from the two world wars.
He said Sikhs have a long military history as part of the British army during both wars, “but we never knew that we also had a part of Canada’s military heritage.”
“This grave, and the story that it reveals of the nine Sikh [Canadian]soldiers that were allowed to serve in World War One [with the Canadian army] is really a remarkable story.”
Sandeep said the ceremony at Buckam Singh’s grave honoured not only all Sikh soldiers, but also Canadian soldiers of all faiths.
The ceremony brought dignitaries and Canadian Forces members from across Canada, including the nation's Minister of State for Democratoic Reform, Tim Sinmgh Uppal; Brig.-Gen. Matthew Overton, Director General (military careers), and Lt.-Col. Harjit Singh Sajjan, the Commanding Officer of the British Columbia Regiment known as Duke of Connaught's Own - who is a veteran of Bosnia and three tours of duty in Afghanistan.
Navdeep Singh Bains, well-known Liberal politician and former member of Parliament for Mississauga Brampton South, attended with his daughter and father.
“My daughter, who is three years old, can dream because of the sacrifices of Pte. Buckam Singh and so many Canadian soldiers,” Navdeep said.
“We are extremely fortunate and we must not take our history for granted.”
Corp. Jasroop Singh Bains said he didn’t expect such a large turnout. He said he was motivated as a Sikh member of the Canadian Forces.
“I hope when people see the Canadian flag, they see all the people of Canada,” Jasrrop Singh said.
While Peter Braid, member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo, said the Canadian Forces represent our multicultural society, Sgt. Gurpreet Singh Dipak pointed out shortcomings that the Canadian Forces have only recently overcome.
Speaking at the ceremony, Gurpreet reached beneath his uniform and pulled out his military identification that was hanging around his neck.
“As Sikhs we are still fighting for recognition,” he said.
Until recently, the identification tags stated Gurpreet ’s religion as “OD” or other denomination. Today his tags read “Sikh.”
“I hope the youth in the audience will think of serving our country in the future, and know that they will be recognized by Canada,” he said.
Sandeep Singh said the annual ceremony has been growing steadily, and he is happy to see Singh’s story reach so many people.
“(Sikhs) have a share of Canadian history, we have a share of that poppy that we wear, and we need to feel proud of that,” Sandeep said. “We’re Canadian and our story is Canada’s story.”
[Courtesy: K-W Record and CBC. Edited for sikhchic.com]
November 7, 2011
Conversation about this article
1: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), November 07, 2011, 9:38 AM.
Got an e-mail from Canada from a friend I grew up with in Leeds (United Kingdom) about this story this morning! The power of the internet and media is vital to tell the world about the Sikh sacrifices made in 15 theaters of war and the Battle Honours won by Sikhs which eclipse all other communities proportionately. Documentaries need to be made about D-Day landings by Sikhs and of course what Sikhs did to the 'inhumanely barbaric' Japanese in South East Asia, taking but two examples.
2: Irvinder Singh Babra (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), November 07, 2011, 10:07 AM.
Please check the spelling of this Canadian Sikh hero in your story and the one on his grave sign. Is it Bucham or Bukkan Singh? And throw some more light on his coming to Canada, joining the force and dying here. It's intriguing, respectfully. [EDITOR: His name is spelled in different ways, e.g., between the grave-stone, the military documents, etc. For the purposes of our stories, we try and use a consistent "Buckam Singh". For more on him, please check out earlier articles on him published on sikhchic.com on the occasion of the previous two Remembrance Days.]
3: Sandeep Singh Brar (Canada), November 07, 2011, 1:57 PM.
For the entire life story of Pvt. Buckam Singh, see the online exhibit, 'Private Buckam Singh - Discovering a Forgotten WWI Hero' at SikhMuseum.com. As for the spelling of his name, as mentioned in the exhibit, his name has been spelled the way he himself signed it.
4: Sandeep Singh Brar (Canada), November 11, 2011, 10:06 AM.
You can see photographs of the 2011 ceremony on the Sikh Remembrance Day website, http://www.sikhmuseum.com/remember/