Throughout the month of November, we remember the sacrifices made by Canada's veterans. Today we're diving into the Grace Schmidt Room of Local History and highlighting the stories of two soldiers who had Kitchener connections. The stories of these men also give us a glimpse into the experiences of people of colour who served in World War I.
James Munroe Franklin (1899-1916)
James Munroe Franklin was born on October 12, 1899 in Whitaker, Mississippi. His parents had moved to Canada after the turn of the century and settled in Hamilton, Ontario. In his early childhood, James suffered the loss of both his mother and sibling. Upon the death of his mother, seven-year-old James was placed in the Stinson Street Boys’ Home where he remained until age 14. Once he left the home he was taken in by a friend and started working as a clerk and a messenger.
When James heard that his peers had enlisted for service in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), he decide to volunteer as well. At age 16, still a child, he enlisted on July 26, 1915 making him one of a few Black Canadians able to join the army. He set sail to England on April 23, 1916. From there he was transferred to France. This 1916 photo from the "Hamilton Spectator" shows James in his uniform. Tragically, he was killed in the Battle of Ancre Heights on October 8, 1916, mere months after his departure. The Canadian Encyclopedia tells us that he was one of the first Black Canadians killed during WWI.
At the time of his death, his father and his new family, were still living in Hamilton. The Franklins moved to Kitchener in 1918 where his father, Walter Franklin, owned a jewelry business on 91 King Street East. You can see the family listed in the 1922-1923 edition of the Vernon’s City of Kitchener and Town of Waterloo Directory.
No. 2 Construction Battalion
While Private James Munroe Franklin’s efforts to join the forces seems to have been seamless, other men of colour experienced lots of resistance to their desire to enlist. The No. 2 Construction Battalion, an all-Black noncombatant unit was founded in 1916. Initially, Canadian Black men were barred from enlistment and told that this was a “White men’s war.” After many rejections and pleas, permission to enlist was finally granted, provided that they did their own draft and formed a separate unit. Eager to serve, Black men from the US and Canada joined the No. 2 Construction Battalion. Attestation records at Library and Archives Canada reveal that some of these men originally came from the Caribbean islands and South America. For example, one man who enlisted, Charles Octavius Waldrow, was born in Jamaica in 1888, while another, Horace Stewart, came from Georgetown, British Guyana.
While oversees representing Canada, many of these men of colour faced prejudice and racism again. Segregation in the Canadian army ended in the mid-1950s. In 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized for the “anti-Black hate and systemic racism” the members of the No. 2 Construction Battlion endured.
1916 photo of the No. 2 Construction Battalion from the Nova Scotia Archives.
Buckam Singh (1893-1919)
Buckam Singh was born in 1893 into a Sikh family who lived in Mahilpur, Punjab, India. He married at the age of 10, and at the age of 14, he left India to work in British Columbia as a miner. Due to strict Canadian immigration laws his wife could not accompany him. In 1907, anti-Asian sentiments led to riots in Vancouver, leading to further tightening of immigration laws. As a result, Buckam left British Colombia and moved to Ontario where he acquired a position as a farmhand in Rosebank.
On April 15, 1915, Buckam Singh enlisted with the 59th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in Smith Falls, Ontario. After his medical examination and training near Kingston, Ontario, Buckam was deployed to England in 1915. This 1915 photo from the "Toronto Telegram," shows Buckam in his uniform with an alternative spelling of his name. The following year he went to France, where he joined the 20th Battalion. Buckam was injured twice while on duty. After recovering from his injuries in Manchester, England, his return to France was postponed because he contracted tuberculosis. He was repatriated to Canada and discharged on August 1, 1918. He died at Freeport Military Hospital on August 27, 1919. Buckam Singh is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Kitchener.
In 2025, Canada Post issued a commemorative stamp to honour the ten Sikh soldiers who served during World War I, including Private Buckam Singh.
Learn more
Discover more stories from the World Wars in the Soldier Information Cards that are available in the Grace Schmidt Room of Local History.