233947 Pion. Patrick Best British Army 345th Field Company Royal Engineers from:13 Denzille Street, Dublin, Ireland Patrick Best was my maternal great grandfather. His daughter was my maternal grandmother Elizabeth. She was named next of kin on his enlistment forms.
Patrick was 50 when he enlisted on 9th of May 1917, too old to join the regular Army. Luckily, his service record still survives unlike his son's. Patrick lost his son John in the same war. John was only 18 when he was killed in action on 15th of March 1915, just a few months after he joined the army. John Best is also mentioned on this website under the Royal Leinsters. Patrick's other son also joined the army and served in WW1 in the 8th Hussars. Patrick's grandson my uncle Tommy also spent many years in the army first the British and then the Irish Army.
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