Captain Wilfrid Clement von Berg MC (21 October 1894 – July 1978)Archives of the Department of Architecture, University of Pretoria quoted i
VON BERG, Wilfred Clement
''The South African Built Environment'', accessed 31 August 2009 was a British

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

-born Von Berg began to study architecture in 1912. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served with the London Rifle Brigade.Supplement to The London Gazette
p30, 1 January 1919, accessed 31 August 2009 At the end of the conflict he joined the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission as an assistant architect.Hard and Soft Landscaping in War Cemeteries
p8, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, accessed 31 August 2009 Working under principal architects Sir

Reginald Blomfield Sir Reginald Theodore Blomfield (20 December 1856 – 27 December 1942) was a prolific British architect, garden designer and author of the Victorian and Edwardian period. Early life and career Blomfield was born at Bow rectory in Devon, w ...

, Sir

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...

and

Charles Holden Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

he designed some 39 cemeteries, including the large

Bedford House Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Bedford House Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the World War I, First World War located near Zillebeke, itself near Ypres, on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in Belgium. The cemetery gr ...

outside of

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

.Cemetery record for Bedford House
accessed 31 August 2009 On leaving the Commission, he began practising architecture in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, moving to the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1931. He set up a practice there, beginning with designing the Perry's

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

in Benoni.Perry's Stores, Benoni, Gauteng
''The South African Built Environment'', accessed 31 August 2009 His practice was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, where he served with the

South African Engineers South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

in the

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

unit. He returned to his practice at the end of the war, finally retiring in 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:von Berg, Wilfrid Clement 1894 births 1978 deaths Architects from Surrey Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War I British expatriates in South Africa South African military personnel of World War II Rifle Brigade soldiers South African Army officers