Buckam Singh, labourer, soldier (born 5 December 1893 in Mahilpur, Punjab, India; died 27 August 1919 in Kitchener, ON). There is little information published about the role of Sikhs in Canadian military service during the First World War. The discovery of Buckam Singh’s Victory Medal led to his reclamation by his community, which commemorates him with an annual Remembrance Day service

It is little known that Sikh Canadians served with the Canadian Army in the First World War. Ten such men have been found among the military records of the Great War, all volunteers to fight for a country that denied them the rights of citizenship. Among them, eight served in Europe, two of whom were killed in action. Another, who was wounded and died after returning to Canada, was Buckam Singh, whose story has been discovered more fully than the others.

Private Buckam Singh

Buckam (Bukkan on his headstone) Singh was born at Mahilpur, Punjab, India, in December 1893. He came to Canada in 1907, at the age of 14, and became a miner in British Columbia before moving to Toronto in 1912 or 1913. Although he was very young when he immigrated to Canada, he was already married, but because of harsh immigration laws he could not bring his bride with him. In 1915, Singh enrolled in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was working as a farm hand in Rosebank, Ontario, when he was called for active service and joined the 20th Battalion. His last service was with the 28th Battalion, according to his headstone.

Note: The Secret Life of Canada is hosted and written by Falen Johnson and Leah Simone Bowen and is a CBC original podcast independent of The Canadian Encyclopedia.

Singh was wounded twice, in separate battles, and is said to have been treated by Dr. John McCrae, who wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields.” Singh was sent to a hospital in England to be repatriated to Canada. While in England, he contracted tuberculosis. He died in a Kitchener, Ontario, hospital in August 1919. He was buried in K itchener’s Mount Hope Cemetery — the only known First World War Sikh Canadian soldier’s grave in the country.

Commemoration of Sikh Canadian Soldiers

There is little information published about the role of Sikhs in Canadian military service during the First World War. The discovery of Buckam Singh’s Victory Medal has led to his reclamation by his community, which commemorates him with an annual Remembrance Day service, and to interest in discovering the history of Sikh soldiers in Canada.

The largely undocumented story of Sikh Canadian soldiers was told by filmmaker David R. Gray. The documentary, Canadian Soldier Sikhs: A Little Story in a Big War, for OMNI Television, uncovered the stories of Buckam Singh and these other forgotten men.

Sikh Canadian Soldiers of the First World War