Arthur Joseph Best

Born 30 Aug 1885 - Died 21 Oct 1920

Service number: WWI 10/2073 AWMM
Also known as: —
Armed force / branch: Army AWMM
Last rank: WW1 Private AWMM Wellington Infantry Battalion AWMM
War: World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM

Arthur Joseph Best — Nominal Roll Vol 1, Page: 52 - No known copyright restrictions No Known Copyright Restrictions

Show empty fields Hide sources

Biographical information

Son of Elizabeth and Joseph Best.

Summary of Service: Arthur Joseph Best attested into the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) on 15 February 1915. On 8 August 1915 while serving with the Wellington Infantry Battalion at Gallipoli, Best suffered severe gunshot wounds to the head and a forearm. He was evacuated to the United Kingdom where he was in hospital until November 1916, after which he was transferred to a convalescence depot. Best returned to New Zealand in March 1917 and was discharged from the NZEF on 4 April 1917 as being no longer physically fit for war service on account of wounds received in action.

Circumstances of Death: On 19 October 1920 Arthur Best committed suicide by shooting himself at his home in Kairanga, near Palmerston North. His brother Harold who lived with him, testified that Arthur's "vacancy and despondency caused me to worry so much over him. He wanted to be by himself all the time. This lasted for about six months after his return [from overseas] . . . There was no recurrence of this trouble until about a fortnight or three weeks ago." His brother thought that Arthur’s depression had been brought on by worry over a farm he was planning to buy and also noted that there was a history of suicide in his family. Their mother had committed suicide when Arthur was a few months old and a sister had killed herself early in 1920. The coroner found that Arthur Best "had no financial or other worries but had been badly wounded in the head at Gallipoli and had suffered severe mental depression from this cause, and this fact was no doubt not unconnected with his sudden rash act, which does not seem to have been premeditated".

Conclusion: Arthur Best's death was noted by the military authorities on his NZEF personal file. The memorial plaque and scroll issued by the New Zealand government to the next of kin of NZEF personnel who died as result of their war service was not issued to Best's next of kin. There is now a well-established link between serious head injuries and depression and suicide. The evidence given by Harold Best and the finding by the coroner who investigated Arthur Best's death strongly indicate that his suicide was attributable to his war service and he should, therefore, be added to the appropriate rolls of honour. Prepared by John Crawford, NZDF Historian AWMM

The development of the Online Cenotaph is an ongoing process; updates, new images and records are added weekly. In some cases, records have yet to be confirmed by Museum staff, and there could be mistakes or omissions in the information provided.

Online Cenotaph Data by Auckland War Memorial Museum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Arthur Joseph Best