Lives of The First World War:- Life Story for Subadar Major Bawa Singh of 23rd Sikh Pioneers Regt

Imperial War Museums (IWM) created a permanent digital memorial to mark the centenary of The Great War. Between May 2014 and March 2019, IWM invited members of the public to create "life stories" of their ancestors who fought in World War One, with the aim of connecting individuals, families, communities and organisations to commemorate their legacy. This was accomplished by uploading photos, service histories, archives, diaries, letters and other relevant documents in order to create a free-to-access database. In total, 7.69 million 'life stories' were created by over 160,000 contributors, along with three million facts. Partner organisations included The National Archives, Commonwealth War Grave Commission, Findmypast, National Archives of Ireland, Australia and Canada, alongside many other members and volunteers. A 'life story' was created for my great-grandfather, Subadar Major Bawa Singh, 1/23rd Sikh Pioneers Regt on 'Lives of the First World War'. The website had a timeline with periods of his service and his promotions, a section with details of military service and a space for all media links, such as evidence from the Indian Army List, a link to a video of remembrance and other photos. The website is searchable by using either the name/service number of the soldier or the name of the regiment. My great-grandfather was a Havildar, when the 23rd Sikh Pioneers were mobilised in October 1914 as part of Indian Expeditionary Force E, and was promoted to Jemadar whilst defending the Suez Canal in 1916. A year later, when the Regiment was helping to build a railway across the Sinai peninsula desert, he was promoted to Subadar. The 23rd Sikh Pioneers were part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force and pushed into Palestine, marching into Jerusalem in December 1917. Subadar Bawa Singh was mentioned in despatches by General Allenby in 1919.