Shot and blown up in WWI, now Aussie vet could be dug up and his grave re-used

THE family of Percy Carl Clark Bolte has been told to pay $4000 to renew the lease of their war hero, or the grave will be reclaimed by the cemetery.

5/03/2015 Cousins Bill Lasscock and Mark Sloan at the grave of their grandfather Percy Clarke who fought at Gallipoli in WW1 buried with their grandmother Effie Letitia at Centennial Park cemetary the 50 year lease is up and the grave is to be reused.Pic Mark Brake

PERCY Carl Clark Bolte’s father was locked up by Australian authorities during WWI, for nothing other than being born in Germany, but when Percy’s country called he answered anyway, and was soon clambering up the barren shores of Gallipoli in a hail of bullets and shrapnel.

In exchange, Australia emptily promised never to forget him, but after being buried for 50 years his grave is now due to be dug up and reused.

After Gallipoli, Percy fought on the western front, then returned to South Australia and lived long enough to show his grandson Mark his war wounds including a missing toe, scars and bullet holes.

Mark Sloan was nine when his grandad passed away in 1965, but is now heartbroken that the family has been asked to pay $4000 by the Centennial Park cemetery to extend the lease on the Gallipoli veteran’s grave.

Mr Sloan said he had been given until November this year to come up with the money to save his grandfather and grandmother’s last resting place.

“But even if I do that, in 50 years time they will want more money, so who will pay them to stop them digging it up after that,’’ he said.

“These guys fought for their country. I can remember him as a typical grandfather, he only talked about the war at the end of his life, and he showed me bullet holes and other wounds.

“He had a couple of bullet holes, a little toe shot off, and a shattered humerus bone in his left leg.’’

The Advertiserlast week revealed a lobby group, Saving the Graves SA, had been set up to try to change laws to force cemeteries to waive fees for lease renewal on veterans‘ graves.

Saving the Graves SA convener Kirrily Burton said since the publicity, the group had identified many veterans whose grave sites had run out of lease.

She said in total, veterans who were buried at cemeteries which renewed graves included 156 at Dudley Park, 3573 at Centennial Park, 9 at Cheltenham and 56 at Payneham.

“These are people who we know from the RSL Virtual War Memorial were veterans, are buried at the cemeteries that we know reuse graves, and so may be exposed to the reuse policy either now or in the future,’’ she said.

The Victorian Parliament on Wednesday passed a law banning the practice.

Statistics released to The Advertiser by the Federal Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs reveal since 2004 it has already had to remove more than 250 of its commemorative plaques at Adelaide cemeteries when families had been unable to pay lease renewal fees or could not be found.

These were plaques at the grave or cremation niche for veterans who returned from war and later died from non-war related factors.

This included 194 graves and 56 niches at the Centennial Park Cemetery.

A spokeswoman for the cemetery could not say what had happened to these graves after the leases had expired and the land reclaimed by the cemetery.

The spokeswoman said since The Advertiser revealed the anger of families towards the reuse policy, they had been offered a five-year renewal option to reduce the lump sum costs.