Kathleen Best

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Kathleen Annie Louise Best (28 August 1910 – 15 November 1957) was an Australian nurse and the first director of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC).

Early life and nursing career
Best was born in Summer Hill, Sydney. She trained as a nurse at Western Suburbs Hospital and learned midwifery at Crown Street Women’s Hospital. She worked at Wyong Hospital, then served as acting matron at Rachel Forster Hospital in Sydney and deputy matron at Masonic Hospital in Ashfield. A portrait of her was painted in 1944 by Nora Heysen.

Military service in World War II
Best joined the Australian Army Nursing Service in 1940. She became matron of the 2/5th Australian General Hospital and went to the Middle East, where the hospital opened in Palestine in late 1940 and moved to Greece in 1941. During the Greek campaign, she and 39 colleagues stayed in Greece after evacuation, although they were later ordered to leave and faced further air raids on their voyage to Crete and Egypt. She received the Royal Red Cross for her service in Greece.

The hospital then moved to Palestine and Eritrea before returning to Australia in 1942. After leaving the AIF, she became the Controller of full-time Voluntary Aid Detachments, which became part of the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service in September 1942. She was promoted to lieutenant colonel in February 1943 and served as Assistant Adjutant General (Women’s Services) in Melbourne. In September 1944, she became Assistant Director of Women’s Re-establishment and Training for postwar reconstruction, helping servicewomen adjust to civilian life after the war.

Director of the Australian Women's Army Corps
On 12 February 1951, Best became the founding Director of the Australian Women's Army Corps, which was soon designated Royal (WRAAC). She was made an honorary colonel in September 1952 and, in 1956, was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 1954 she also chaired the Red Cross Button Day committee in Melbourne. Colleagues described her as modest with a good sense of humour, and a dependable, fair leader.

Legacy and death
A memorial gateway to her service stands at the WRAAC School in Sydney. Best fell ill with melanomatosis and died on 15 November 1957 at Epworth Hospital in Richmond, Melbourne, at the age of 47. She is buried at Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park.