Best, Kathleen Annie Louise (1910-1957)

Field of activity
Nurse and Servicewoman; army matron; hospital matron (general); nurse (general); Nurse
NLA Persistent Identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-775069

Biographies

BEST, KATHLEEN ANNIE LOUISE (1910-1957), nurse and army officer, was born on 28 August 1910 at Summer Hill, Sydney, second child of Rupert Dudley Best, commission agent, and his wife Emily Edith, née Stevenson, both native-born. Educated at Bondi Public and Cleveland Street Intermediate High schools, Kath completed nursing training at Western Suburbs Hospital and midwifery at the Women's Hospital, Crown Street. She became a staff nurse at Wyong Hospital, acting-matron at the Rachel Forster Hospital for Women and Children, Sydney, and deputy-matron of the Masonic Hospital, Ashfield. On 30 May 1940 she was appointed to the Australian Army Nursing Service, Australian Imperial Force, and posted as matron of the 2nd/5th Australian General Hospital.

View the full record at Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

Kathleen Best, as nurse and army officer, was an inspiring leader in both a war and peace time environment. As an army officer in the Middle East, she distinguished herself through her courage and efficiency in her treatment and care of the wounded. After her wartime service, she assumed a number of peacetime appointments, which included becoming the founding director, Australian Women's Army Corps (Women's Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC)) in 1951. Kathleen Best's war effort was acknowledged by the award of the Royal Red Cross medal 'for gallantry, conduct and devotion in Greece 14/27 April 1941' and her subsequent role as Director of the WRAAC was honoured with her appointment as Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1956.

Kathleen Best was the second child of Rupert Dudley Best, commission agent, and Emily Edith, née Stevenson. She was educated at Bondi Public and Cleveland Street Intermediate High School. She embarked on her nursing career at Western Suburbs Hospital and completed her midwifery at the Crown Street Women's Hospital, Sydney.

On 30 May 1940, Best enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service, Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) (service number NX12617), and was posted as matron of the 2nd/5th Australian General Hospital, which opened in December at Rehovot, Palestine. It moved to Greece on 10 April 1941 to assist the Anzac Corps in its battle against the Germans. Medical and nursing personnel worked under constant air raids, and by 25 April, most medical staff were evacuated to Crete. Best and 39 nurses volunteered to remain to care for the wounded, but later that day they were ordered to leave and survived a dangerous journey to Greece. She was awarded the RRC for her gallant conduct under difficult circumstances. She returned to Palestine to reorganise the hospital, then in August 1941, she went with the 2nd/5th AGH to Eritrea, Ethiopia.

Best returned to Australia in March 1942 and her AIF appointment was terminated on 13 June. She then took on the position of controller of full-time voluntary aid detachments for the Australian Army Medical Women's Service. She relinquished this post in February 1943 and was promoted to lieutenant colonel to become assistant adjutant general (women's services). In September 1944 she transferred to the Reserve Officers and became the assistant director of women's re-establishment and training in the Department of Postwar Reconstruction. This position involved helping servicewomen and female war workers adapt to the changed postwar conditions. The culmination of her career came with her appointment as the founding director of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps in February 1951. She was promoted to the rank of honorary colonel in 1952 and was appointed to the OBE in 1956. She was a member of the Melbourne Lyceum Club. Two portraits of her, painted by Nora Heysen and Geoffrey Mainwaring, hang in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

Kathleen Best died in the Epworth Hospital, Richmond, Victoria, from melanonomatosis on 15 November 1957.

  • 1940 - 1942 Served in the Middle East
  • 1942 Awarded Royal Red Cross Medal (RRC)
  • 1942 - 1943 Controller for the Australian Army Medical Women's Service (AAMWS)
  • 1943 - 1944 Assistant Adjutant-General Women's Services
  • 1944 - 1949 Assistant Director, Re-establishment Division, Department of Post-War Reconstruction

View the full record at Australian Women's Register

Kathleen Best undertook nursing training at the Western Suburbs Hospital, Sydney, and midwifery training at the Women's Hospital, Crown Street, Sydney. Best became a staff nurse at Wyong Hospital, acting-matron at the Rachel Forster Hospital for Women and Children, Sydney, and later deputy-matron of the Masonic Hospital, Ashfield. In 1940 she was appointed to the Australian Army Nursing Service, serving in the Middle East until 1942. Best was the founding Director of the Australian Women's Army Corps. She was appointed as Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Military) in 1956.

  • May 1940 Career position - Australian Army Nursing Service and posted as matron of the 2nd/5th Australian General Hospital
  • 1941 Award - Royal Red Cross (RRC) received
  • 1942 - 1943 Career position - Controller in the Australian Army Medical Women's Service
  • 1943 - 1944 Career position - Assistant Adjutant-General of Women's Services
  • 1944 - 1949 Career position - Assistant Director of the Re-establishment Division of the Department of Post-War Reconstruction
  • 1951 - 1957 Career position - Founding Director of the Australian Women's Army Corps
  • 1956 Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Military) (OBE)

View the full record at Encyclopedia of Australian Science

Related people and organisations

Australian Women's Register

Resources for Kathleen Annie Louise Best

Selected resources (25)

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

Australian Women's Register

  1. Best, Kathleen Annie Louise (1910-1957)Australian Dictionary of Biography Online 13 : Best, Kathleen Annie Louise (1910-1957)
    Lincoln, Merrilyn
    [2006]
    Published: Australian National University
    Series: http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130206b.htm
  2. Faith, Hope and Charity Australian Women and Imperial Honours: 1901-1989
    Australian Women's Archives Project
    [2003]
    Published: Australian Women's Archives Project
    Series: http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/honours/honours.html
  3. Where are the Women in Australian science?
    Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
    [2003]
    Published: Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
    Series: http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/wisa/wisa.html
  4. Just wanted to be there : Australian Service Nurses 1899-1999
    Reid, Richard
    [1999]
    Published: Commonwealth Department of Veterans' Affairs
  5. From blue to khaki: The enlisted voluntary aids and others who became members of the Australian Army Medical Women's Service and served from 19421-1951
    Mount-Batten, Betty J
    [1995]
    Published: Betty J Mount-Batten
  6. Colonel Best and her soldiers: The Story of the 33 years of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps
    Ollif, Lorna
    [1985]
    Published: Ollif Publishing Company
  7. RSL Returned Sisters' Sub-branch Thanksgiving Service, 100 Years of Australian Army Nursing
    [2002]
    Series: http://www.perthcathedral.org/
  8. A Stroll down memory lane
    WRAAC Association
    [2001]
  9. Soldiers of the Queen : women in the Australian Army
    Bomford, Janette
    [2001]
    Published: Oxford University Press
  10. Who's who in Australia 1950
    Alexander, Joseph A
    [1950]
    Published: The Herald
  11. Guns and brooches : Australian Army Nursing from the Boer War to the Gulf War
    Bassett, Jan
    [1992]
    Published: Oxford University Press
  12. Proudly We Served: stories of 2/5th Australian general hospital at war with Germany, behind German lines and at war with Japan in the Pacific
    Brodziak, Innes
    [1988]
    Published: 2/5th Australian General Hospital Association
  13. A History of the Lyceum Club Melbourne
    Gillison, Joan M
    [1975]
    Published: The Lyceum Club
  14. Australian women at war
    Adam-Smith, Patsy
    [1984]
    Published: Nelson
  15. Australian War Memorial Research Centre: AIF and militia unit diaries (1939 - 1945)
    KAL Best: report of matron 5th Australian general hospital 18 May 1941
    52
  16. National Archives of Australia, National Office: Kathleen Best Memorial (Gates) and portrait (1957 - 1984)
    A7481/1
  17. National Archives of Australia, National Office: Speech by Colonel Sybil H IRVING (1959)
    speech by Colonel Sybil H IRVING (honorary Colonel of the Corps) made at the opening of the Kathleen Best Memorial Gates, Women's Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) School, Mosman, NSW, 6 November 1959
    Control Symbol 2
  18. National Archives of Australia, National Office: Audio tape - Christmas message from Colonel Sybil H IRVING (1956)
    Christmas message from Colonel Sybil H IRVING (honorary Colonel of the Corps HONCOL) and Colonel Kathleen BEST (Director, Women's Royal Australian Army Corps DWRAAC) 1956
    A7483/1

Encyclopedia of Australian Science

  1. Best, Kathleen Annie Louise (1910-1957), Nurse and Army OfficerAustralian Dictionary of Biography John Ritchie 13 176 : Best, Kathleen Annie Louise (1910-1957), Nurse and Army Officer
    Lincoln, Merrilyn
    [1993]
    Published: Melbourne University Press
  2. Best, Kathleen Annie Louise (1910-1957), Biographical EntryAustralian Women's Archives Project : Best, Kathleen Annie Louise (1910-1957), Biographical Entry
    [2003]
    Published: National Foundation for Australian Women
    Series: http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0068b.htm
  3. Colonel Best and her soldiers: the story of the 33 years of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps
    Ollif, Lorna
    [1985]
    Published: Ollif Publishing Company
  4. Who's Who in Australia 1944
    Alexander, John A.
    [1944]
    Published: The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd
  5. National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection: Biographical cuttings on Colonel Kathleen Best, Director of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps 1951-1957
    Cuttings Files BIOG
  6. Australian War Memorial Research Centre: Lieutenant Colonel Kathleen Best, Portrait (1944)
    Painting by Nora Heysen, oil on canvas
    ART22216

No Comments for this person

 

Add a comment



Possibly related

Digitised newspapers and more

Searching...

Minimise

Diaries, letters, archives

Searching...

Minimise

Archived websites (1996 – now)

Searching...

Minimise

Pictures, photos, objects

Searching...

Minimise

Books

Searching...

Minimise

Music, sound and video

Searching...

Minimise

People and organisations

Searching...

Minimise

Journals, articles and data sets

Searching...

Minimise

Maps

Searching...

Minimise

Lists

Searching...

Minimise
  1. Anna Louise Shelley
    Created by rafnarch, 6 items.

  2. Kathleen Dalziel poetry
    Created by Perry.Middlemiss, 53 items.

    A catalog of poetry by Kathleen Dalziel

  3. Annie Get Your Gun (1946 - )
    Created by dance[NLA], 9 items.

    The Australian production of Annie Get your Gun, an enterprise of the J. C. Williamson organisation, opened in Melbourne on 19 July 1947. Its first season in Australia just over twelve mon...

People and organisations

No results

Minimise

Pictures, photos, objects

No results

Minimise

Maps

No results

Minimise
  1. Little women / Louisa May Alcott
    Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888
    [ Book, Audio book, Sound : 1800-2011 ]
    Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, [16 others]
    read online at Open Library/Internet Archive
    View online
    At 152 libraries
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.065)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.065)

  2. Kathleen Battle
    Battle, Kathleen
    [ Sound : 2004 ]
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.045)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.045)

  3. WSJ: McGraw Hill, CME in Talks to Merge Stock Index Businesses; SEC May Be Shifting Focus to More Negligence Cases; Apotheker to Get Nearly $10.(Wall Street Journal, The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., CME Group Inc., United States Securities and Exchang...
    Imus in the Morning
    [ Sound : 2011 ]
    View online (conditions apply)
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0)

  1. Noall, Matthew Frederick and Claire Wilcox
    Martthew and Claire Noall
    [ Unpublished : 1805 ]
    View online (access conditions)
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.008)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.008)

  2. Papers of Patricia Clarke
    Clarke, Patricia, 1926-
    [ Unpublished : 1887-2005 ]
    At National Library
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.001)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.001)

  3. Papers of William Morris Hughes
    Hughes, W. M. (William Morris), 1862-1952
    [ Unpublished : 1865-1958 ]
    View online
    At National Library
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.001)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.001)

  1. Little women / Louisa May Alcott
    Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888
    [ Book, Audio book, Sound : 1800-2011 ]
    Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, [16 others]
    read online at Open Library/Internet Archive
    View online
    At 152 libraries
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.065)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.065)

  2. Saturday's Child
    Norris, Kathleen Thompson, 1880-1966
    [ Book : 1914 ]
    read online at Open Library/Internet Archive
    View online
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.017)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.017)

  3. Poor, Dear Margaret Kirby
    Norris, Kathleen Thompson, 1880-1966
    [ Book ]
    read online at Open Library/Internet Archive
    View online
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.014)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.014)

  4. A guide to the best historical novels and tales
    Nield, Jonathan
    [ Book : 1902-1990 ]
    read online at Open Library/Internet Archive
    View online
    At 11 libraries
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.012)

    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.012)

  1. Little women / Louisa May Alcott
    Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888
    [ Book, Audio book, Sound : 1800-2011 ]
    Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, [16 others]
    read online at Open Library/Internet Archive
    View online
    At 152 libraries
    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.071)

    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.071)

  2. Lorraine's Bookshelf.(Book review)
    Lorraine, Nancy
    MBR Bookwatch
    [ Article : 2010-2011 ]
    View online (conditions apply)
    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.011)

    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.011)

  3. Lifetime Television's Summer Programming Lineup Features Original Movies Starring Mary-Louise Parker, Dana Delany and Kathleen Quinlan, Returning Popular Dramas 'Strong Medicine,' 'Wild Card' and 'Missing,' Season Finale of 'The Division'; - Fifth Se...
    PR Newswire
    [ Article : 2004 ]
    View online (conditions apply)
    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.01)

    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.01)

  4. BEST SELLERS: April 6, 2003.(Book Review Desk)(Bibliography)
    The New York Times Book Review
    [ Article : 2003 ]
    View online (conditions apply)
    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.01)

    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.01)

  1. Website: Australian Women in War
    www.womenaustralia.info
    Matching pages:
    View 57 matching archived pages
    This resource is likely to be relevant to your query (score: 0.074)

    This resource is likely to be relevant to your query (score: 0.074)

  2. Website: Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
    www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au
    Matching pages:
    View 163 matching archived pages
    This resource is likely to be relevant to your query (score: 0.052)

    This resource is likely to be relevant to your query (score: 0.052)

  3. Website: Australian Women's Archives Project
    www.womenaustralia.info
    Matching pages:
    View 58 matching archived pages
    This resource is likely to be relevant to your query (score: 0.052)

    This resource is likely to be relevant to your query (score: 0.052)

  1. NURSES FOR A.I.F. N.S.W. Contingent. MELBOURNE, Tuesday.
    The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Wednesday 5 June 1940 p 15 Article
    ... overseas with the medical units of the A.I.F. - Matron: Kathleen Annie Louise Best.   Sisters: Janet Ly ... , Kathleen Una Kiernan, Annabella Gertrude Evans, Margaret Forbes Bell, Connie Man Bishop, Jessie Lil- lian Dodd, Rosa Mary Nalder, Mary Catherine Maclnnes, Nellie Kathleen Stephenson, Gwe ... 244 words
    This resource may have relevance to your query (score: 0.007)

    This resource may have relevance to your query (score: 0.007)

  2. 24 A.I.F. Nurses From Queensland
    The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954) Wednesday 5 June 1940 p 3 Article
    ... Holland, and Phyllis Joyce Pym. The matron of the New South Wales nurses is Kathleen Annie Louise Best, ... 161 words
    This resource may have relevance to your query (score: 0.006)

    This resource may have relevance to your query (score: 0.006)

  3. ARMY NURSES. 175 More Appointed. MELBOURNE, June 4.
    Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1885 - 1954) Thursday 6 June 1940 p 2 Article
    ... Holland, and Phyllis Joyce Pym. The matron of tile New South Wales nurses is Kathleen Annie Louise Best ... 164 words
    This resource may have relevance to your query (score: 0.006)

    This resource may have relevance to your query (score: 0.006)