August

Private Buckam Singh is believed to be the first Canadian Sikh solider to serve in combat on the fields of Flanders in 1916, as a member of the 20th Canadian Infantry Battalion. At this time, Sikhs were actively prevented from immigrating to Canada and were denied the rights of citizenship, however they were able to bravely serve the country in times of war because they were servants of the Crown.

Pte Singh, who came to BC as a teenaged farmer in 1907, was wounded in battle and later died from complications related to his injuries. Pte. Singh was treated by Dr. John McCrae who went on to write the iconic wartime poem In Flanders Fields.

Pte. Singh was a forgotten hero for almost a century until his war medal was inadvertently discovered by a war historian in 2005. It is believed that at least ten Sikh men enlisted in the Canadian Army during WWI, however, their records are forever lost.

Eight of the 10 men courageously served in both England and France, and all had the surname of Singh. Today, the Sikh community honours the untold story of Private Buckam Singh and the other unknown soldiers each year on Remembrance Day.