Uffelman, Sheldon

Service highlights

  • Service number: 751361
  • Rank: Private
  • Name: Sheldon Uffelman, also spelled Uffelmann
  • Born: Waterloo, 4 August 1894
  • Civilian life: clerk, worked briefly at a St. Marys bank
  • Early service: local militia, 108th (North Waterloo) Regiment, September 1915
  • Enlisted: 118th (Waterloo) Canadian Infantry Battalion, 10 January 1916
  • England: arrived 6 February 1917, battalion broken up for reinforcements, transferred to the 25th Reserve Battalion at Bramshott
  • Posted to France: 17 May 1917 to the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion, in reserve behind the lines at Coupigny
  • Hospitalized: 5 June 1917, 51 General Hospital at Etaples, released 21 August 1917
  • Holding unit: 1st Entrenching Battalion while awaiting return to his battalion
  • Rejoined unit: 29 September 1917
  • Killed in action: 6 November 1917 during Passchendaele operations, likely by shellfire
  • No known grave, commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial
  • Remembered: Waterloo War Memorial, Waterloo Public Library plaques, Waterloo Methodist Church plaque, and the St. Marys cenotaph

A Life and Service Remembered

Sheldon Uffelman was born in Waterloo and was Canadian by birth, but he also carried a strong pride in his German heritage. He belonged to the Acadian Club of Waterloo, a social club for men of German ancestry. He worked as a clerk and, for a time, held a job in a St. Marys bank, a small thread that ties his story to the town that later remembered him on its cenotaph.

He began in a local militia regiment and then enlisted with the 118th Battalion in January 1916, following the same path as many young men who signed up, trained, and then waited far longer than expected for ships, space, and orders. That long wait took a toll on the 118th. The unit struggled with desertions and uneven training, and it carried additional tension because Waterloo had many families of German descent and suspicion could fall easily on the wrong shoulders. Sheldon’s story sits quietly inside that difficult moment, a Canadian soldier asked to prove loyalty in a time when heritage could be misunderstood.

When the battalion finally sailed on SS Scandinavian on January 23rd 1917, it arrived in England and was quickly broken up for reinforcements. Sheldon was transferred to a reserve battalion at Bramshott, completed his infantry training, and then was sent to France in May 1917 to join the 1st Battalion. In June he fell ill and spent much of the summer in hospital at Etaples. After his release he waited in a holding unit until the 1st Battalion needed men again.

He rejoined his battalion at the end of September, just in time for the move into the Ypres Salient and the fighting at Passchendaele. On 6 November 1917, during the assault toward Passchendaele village and the confused, shell torn aftermath as positions were consolidated under heavy fire, Sheldon was killed, likely by shellfire. His comrades probably buried him near the front line trenches, but post war teams could not find his grave. His name is therefore carried on the Menin Gate Memorial, one of thousands who have no known resting place but are still spoken aloud.

He was survived by his parents, Jacob and Eliza Uffelman of Allan Street in Waterloo, and by siblings William, Walter, Orley, and Gladys. His name was placed on memorials in Waterloo and also on St. Marys cenotaph, marking how far his short adult life reached through work, service, and community.

Major battles and operations

  • Reinforcement and training system in England, including Bramshott reserve battalion training
  • Western Front service with the 1st Battalion
  • Passchendaele operations, 6 November 1917
    • Assault toward Passchendaele village
    • Consolidation under heavy rifle, machine gun, and artillery fire
    • Killed during the action, no known grave

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