Waterloo Region Generations
A record of the people of Waterloo Region, Ontario.

Private Buckam Singh

Male 1893 - 1919  (25 years)


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  • Name Buckam Singh 
    Prefix Private 
    Born 5 Dec 1893  Wahilpur, Punjab, India Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Gender Male 
    FindAGrave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31567154 
    Military WW1  [1, 3
    Name Buk Am Singh 
    Name Bukkan Singh 
    Eby ID Number Waterloo-109200 
    Died 27 Aug 1919  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [2, 3
    Cause: pulmonary tuberculosis two years 
    Buried Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I109200  Generations
    Last Modified 6 Apr 2024 

  • Notes 
    • Brampton curator of Sikh museum presented diamond jubilee

      BRAMPTON Historian Sandeep Singh Brar, curator of SikhMuseum.com and a local Brampton resident was recently presented one of the final Queens Diamond Jubilee Medals in Canada at the Annual Sikh Remembrance Day Ceremony.

      Brar was awarded the medal for his contributions to Canadian military history. He discovered the war medal and military grave of Canadian First World War hero Pte. Buckam Singh, one of only nine Sikh soldiers allowed to serve in the Canadian Forces during the First World War.

      Buckam Singh died in a military hospital in Kitchener in 1919 after fighting with the 20th Canadian Infantry Battalion in France and Belgium during the war where he was wounded twice in two battles.

      Brar's discovery of the war medal and military grave culminated in a year of research and the creation of the online exhibit Private Buckam Singh: Discovering a Canadian Hero at SikhMuseum.com.

      Six years ago after this discovery Brar started the Annual Sikh Remembrance Day ceremony at Pte. Singh's grave, the only military grave in Canada of a Sikh soldier from the World Wars. The ceremony is attended annually by Sikh veterans, Canadian Forces personnel and members of the public.

      Brar was originally scheduled to receive his medal last year at a ceremony in Toronto when they were awarded during the Queens Diamond Jubilee to Canadians who have made a significant contribution to Canada, but on the day of the awards ceremony his grandfather died and he was unable to attend.

      Now, one year later at the Sikh Remembrance Day Ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 10 Brar was finally awarded his medal by Minister of State (Multiculturalism) Tim Uppal and Kitchener MPs Peter Braid and Stephen Woodworth.

      Brampton Guardian 17 Nov 2013

      ____________

      JUST BACK WHEN WOUNDED


      Bukum Singh, a Toronto Sikh, on Casualty List Second Time.

      The name of Bukum Singh appears again in to-day's list of wounded. During the fighting around Zillebeke in June. Bukum was wounded, and had just returned to the trenches when he was again caught. He is 25 years of age. and came from the village of Wahilpur, Punjab, India. in 1907, taking up land in British Columbia. As his claims did not turn out well he came to Toronto, and after working for over a year here went to work on the farm of Mr. W. H. Moore at Rosebank. It was while. there that the call for volunteers came, and Bukum was the first Sika in Canada to answer that call. In May, 1915, he enlisted with the 59th Battalion, and went overseas after training at Barflefield Camp. When wounded last June he was the first Canadian Sikh to be wounded. His people live in India, and the only brother he has who is old enough to fight enlisted with the Indian contingent early in the war.

      Toronto Telegram August 1916.

  • Sources 
    1. [S157] Military - Canada - World War I - Attestation papers.
      SINGH, BUKAM Regimental number(s): 454819 Reference: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 8947 - 44 Date of Birth: 05/12/1893 Punjab, India

    2. [S713] Vit - ON - Death Registration, death certificate 33406 (1919), Buckam Singh.
      Buckam Singh, d. 27 Aug 1919 Kitchener, aged 25y, 8m, 7d, b. East India, Freeport Sanatorium, cause: pulmonary tuberculosis two years

    3. [S2120] News - ON, Peel, Brampton - Brampton Guardian, Brampton curator of Sikh museum presented diamond jubilee - 17 Nov 2013.

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsDied - Cause: pulmonary tuberculosis two years - 27 Aug 1919 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth