ANZAC - BERGH brothers

Haakon Ludvig Bergh

(b. 8 Sep 1890, Christchurch; d. 8 May 1915, Turkey)


image source
killed in action, at Gallipoli
His mother would very likely have read his name in the Roll of Honour list of fallen soldiers published regularly in the newspaper.

14 Jun 1915
image source
The site of his family's plot, in Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch (NZ).

image source
But he has a memorial in the Redoubt Cemetery, Helles, Turkey.
image source

He was still single when he was killed in action.
His military records show that he was a traveller before he signed up (this likely meant a travelling salesman) in September of 1914.
Every soldier had to sign an oath as part of their enlistment.

image source

Harold Siguart Bergh

(b. 21 Sep 1887; d. 21 Aug 1960, Wellington)
Before the war, he was a tanner but later he became a farmer.
During WWI he enrolled in the army (Oct 1915), in the 9th Reinforcements Canterbury Infantry Battalion, C Company.
His burial plaque at Karori Cemetery.

image source
As this part of his military service record shows, in June of 1916 (while in France) he suffered a severe gunshot wound to the stomach which laid him up for the rest of the month.

image source
He would eventually be assessed as physically unfit for duty, and so was discharged and sent home in 1917.
His records noted that he received both the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

---

Notes:
Father: Ludvig Bergh
(b. 1848, Norway; d. 7 Jan 1895, Sumner)
He was an ironmonger, and sadly suffered a heart attack at a young age.
His obituary:



image source

Mother: Elizabeth Marley
(b. cir. 1847; d. 18 Jun 1920, Christchurch)

image source
Her father, William (presumably when they first arrived in NZ at the end of 1850),

is said to have lived with his wife and child in a cave dug out of the hillside, which he had roofed with carpet and lined with boxwood. source

When Elizabeth died she left an estate worth £30,000 which, 18 years later was being sorted out through the courts.

The couple married on the 16th of December, 1872.

image source
They had six other children, all born in Christchurch:

• William Henry Marley (b. 1873; d. 1904)
• Frederikke Marie (b. 1875; d. 1931)
• Violet Elizabeth (b. 1880; d. 1918)
• Otto Valentine (b. 1882; d. 1976)
• Hildur Clara (b. 1883; d. 1970)
• Jane Augustua (b. 1886; d. 1918)

Bibliography:

http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers

http://www.linwoodcemetery.org.nz/?s=bergh&x=0&y=0

https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/haakon-ludvig-bergh

https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search

http://www.firstfourships.co.nz/pics/person.php?pos=cj16

http://heritage.christchurchcitylibraries.com/Cemeteries/index.asp

https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/600731/bergh,-haakon-ludvig/

https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/

---

image source

Mannabase UBI - sign up via referral link, and help spread the word: