Biographical entry Best, Kathleen Annie Louise (1910 - 1957)

Summary

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.

Details

Events

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)

Archival resources

Australian War Memorial Research Centre

• Lieutenant Colonel Kathleen Best, Portrait, 1944, ART22216; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details

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; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

• Ollif, Lorna, Colonel Best and her soldiers: the story of the 33 years of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps, Ollif Publishing Company, Hornsby, New South Wales, 1985, 250 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Lincoln, Merrilyn, 'Best, Kathleen Annie Louise (1910-1957), Nurse and Army Officer', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 13, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1993, p. 176. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130206b.htm. Details

Online Resources

• 'Best, Kathleen Annie Louise (1910-1957), Biographical Entry', in Australian Women's Archives Project, National Foundation for Australian Women, 2003, http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0068b.htm. Details
• National Library of Australia, 'Best, Kathleen Annie Louise', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-775069. Details

See also

• Alexander, John A. (ed.), Who's Who in Australia 1944, vol. 12, The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, Melbourne, 1944, 906 pp. Details