Newfoundland Regiment chaplain honoured at St. John's ceremony

A St. John's-born man who worked to ensure the warsacrifices of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians werenever forgotten is getting his own recognition.

Lt.-Col. Thomas Nangle, named a person of National Historical Significanceby Parks Canada, was honoured witha plaque at a ceremony Tuesday morning at the Canadian Forces Station in St. John's.

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Nangle'spursuitto mark the history of the First World Warincluded the creation of the Caribou Trail, which features a bronze sculpture of that animal as a monument in five battlefields in France and Belgium.

Early religious work

Nangle, born in 1889, went to Ireland to study for the priesthoodafter graduating from St. Bonaventure's College in St. John's.

He was ordained in 1913 by the Archbishop of Newfoundland and served parishes in Topsail, Bell Island and St. John's.

After the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel, Nangle joined the British army's chaplaincy and was posted to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, where he was considered a popular chaplain or "padre," until eventually acquiring the rank oflieutenant-colonel.

Post-war persistence

Nangle was appointed as Newfoundland's representative to the Director of War Graves Registration and Enquiries, in addition to the Imperial War Graves Commission. He travelled Europe, documenting the burial sites of Newfoundlanders.

Nangle also purchased a portion of the Beaumont-Hamel battlefield to preserve the graves of Newfoundland's fallen soldiers.

He negotiated with hundreds of French landowners to get the land needed for the Caribou Trail monuments.

He also supervised the construction of the National War Memorial in St. John's.

African life

Following his work with the Imperial War Graves Commission, Nangle moved to Southern Rhodesia which eventually becameZimbabwe and had a foray into the British colony'spolitics.

He married and had four children.

Nangle never returned to Newfoundland before his death Jan.4, 1972.