Historian Sandeep Singh Brar the Curator of SikhMuseum.com has been awarded 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 World War I hero Pvt. Buckam Singh, one of only 9 Sikh soldiers allowed to serve in the Canadian Forces in World War I. Buckam Singh’s 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 Pvt. 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 Sun Nov 10 Brar was finally awarded his medal by Minister of State (Multiculturalism) Tim Uppal.