Canada Post honors service of Sikh soldiers with Remembrance Day stamp

By David Hartwig

Canada Post honors the service of Sikh soldiers with a stamp issued Nov. 3.

Canada Post issued its annual Remembrance Day stamp one day after unveiling the stamp at the annual Sikh Remembrance Day ceremony held in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

The nondenominated permanent rate (currently $1.24) stamp features an illustration of a Canadian Sikh soldier and the grave of Private Buckam Singh, the youngest Canadian Sikh soldier to enlist in World War I.

“More than a quarter million Sikh soldiers answered the call of duty for Britain and its allies during both world wars,” Canada Post said in a Nov. 2 press release. “In Canada, discrimination prevented many Sikhs from enlisting. Only 10 broke the barrier in the First World War — most fighting with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Europe — including eight who joined before conscription.”

Singh began his service in World War I at the age of 22. In Europe he was wounded at least twice. He then contracted tuberculosis and died in 1919.

His grave in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, is the only known military grave in Canada of a Sikh soldier from the world wars. The annual Sikh Remembrance Day ceremony, where the stamp was unveiled, takes place at his gravesite at Mount Hope Cemetery and is one of the largest gatherings of Sikh soldiers and veterans in North America, according to a blog article from Canada Post magazine.

Historian Sandeep Singh Brar is the event’s chief organizer. “The ceremony [at Mount Hope Cemetery] allows all Canadians to honour our Sikh veterans and never forget those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our nation,” Brar said. “Conducting it at this hero’s resting place is very emotional for the Sikhs in attendance. The maple leaf on his headstone is both a symbol of acceptance and recognition of our community’s contributions to this country since our first pioneers arrived more than 120 years ago.”

Brar started the ceremony after his discovery of Singh’s Victory Medal in England in 2008 led to his uncovering the soldier’s story. Brar has more information about Singh on his website at www.sikhmuseum.com.

Although the grave of Private Buckam Singh is shown on the stamp, the text reading “Private Singh” in English, French, and Punjabi (in Gurmukhi script), honors Sikh soldiers more broadly.

Canada Post explained that the majority of the Sikh soldiers had the surname Singh, since male followers of Sikhism share the surname as a way to promote equality and reject caste divisions.

“These men rose above incredible inequity, discrimination and hardship to serve their country,” Pardeep Singh Nagra, executive director of the Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada, told Canada Post magazine in a blog article. “This was even more difficult because they were removed from the safety nets of their community — from their family, friends, language and faith. These stories speak of their resiliency, dedication, comradery, values, ethics and willingness to sacrifice everything to fulfill their civic duty to cause and country.”

Canada Post issued the Private Singh stamp in booklets of six and a souvenir sheet of five. At the time of publication, customers in the United States cannot purchase these or other products from Canada Post due to U.S. Customs changes.

The stamp was illustrated by and designed by Larry Burke and Anna Stredulinsky of Burke & Burke Design in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Colour Innovations printed the issue in a quantity of 120,000 booklets of six (Canada Post ordering number 414302111) and 7,000 panes of five (404302107).

The pane of five features the Punjabi inscription from the headstone of Private Sunta Gouger Singh in La Laiterie Military Cemetery in Belgium. The inscription translates to “One Creator. Victory to the Supreme Enlightener. Final auspicious ceremony.”

Canada Post also created 5,000 first-day covers canceled from Kitchener, Ontario, home of the Mount Hope Cemetery, where Private Buckam Singh is buried.

The background of the FDC pictures Sergeant Gurpreet Singh Dipak, Captain Daulat Singh Deol and Sergeant Manpreet Singh at the 2013 Sikh Remembrance Day ceremony in Kitchener, Ontario. The other side of the FDC shows a photograph of Singh’s Victory Medal.

For those outside of the United States, the Private Singh stamp and FDC are available from Canada Post at www.canadapost.ca/shop, and by mail order from Canada Post Customer Service, Box 90022, 2701 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON K1V 1J8 Canada; or by telephone from Canada at 800-565-4362, and from other countries at 902-863-6550.

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