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John Masters

Author profile

born

January 01, 1914 in Calcutta, India

died

January 01, 1983

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs

About this author

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Masters was the son of a lieutenant-colonel whose family had a long tradition of service in the Indian Army. He was educated at Wellington and Sandhurst. On graduating from Sandhurst in 1933, he was seconded to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) for a year before applying to serve with the 4th Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles. He saw service on the North-West Frontier with the 2nd battalion of the regiment, and was rapidly given a variety of appointments within the battalion and the regimental depot, becoming the Adjutant of the 2nd battalion in early 1939.

During World War II his battalion was sent to Basra in Iraq, during the brief Anglo-Iraqi War. Masters subsequently served in Iraq, Syria and Persia. In early 1942, he attend...more Masters was the son of a lieutenant-colonel whose family had a long tradition of service in the Indian Army. He was educated at Wellington and Sandhurst. On graduating from Sandhurst in 1933, he was seconded to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) for a year before applying to serve with the 4th Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles. He saw service on the North-West Frontier with the 2nd battalion of the regiment, and was rapidly given a variety of appointments within the battalion and the regimental depot, becoming the Adjutant of the 2nd battalion in early 1939.

During World War II his battalion was sent to Basra in Iraq, during the brief Anglo-Iraqi War. Masters subsequently served in Iraq, Syria and Persia. In early 1942, he attended the Indian Army Staff College at Quetta. Here he met the wife of a fellow officer and began an affair. They were later to marry. This caused a small scandal at the time.

After Staff College he first served as Brigade Major in 114th Indian Infantry Brigade before being "poached" by "Joe" Lentaigne, another officer from 4th Gurkhas, to be Brigade Major in 111th Indian Infantry Brigade, a Chindit formation. From March, 1944, the brigade served behind the Japanese lines in Burma. On the death of General Orde Wingate on 24 April, Lentaigne became the Chindits' overall commander and Masters commanded the main body of 111 Brigade.

In May, the brigade was ordered to hold a position code-named ‘Blackpool’ near Mogaung in northern Burma. The isolated position was attacked with great intensity for seventeen days and eventually the brigade was forced to withdraw. Masters had to order the medical orderlies to shoot 19 of his own men, casualties who had no hope of recovery or rescue. Masters later wrote about these events in the second volume of his autobiography, The Road Past Mandalay.

After briefly commanding the 3rd battalion of his regiment, Masters subsequently became GSO1 (the Chief of Staff) of Indian 19th Infantry Division, which was heavily involved in the later stages of the Burma Campaign, until the end of the war. After a spell as a staff officer in GHQ India in Delhi, he then served as an instructor at the British Army Staff College, Camberley. He left the army after this posting, and moved to the United States, where he attempted to set up a business promoting walking tours in the Himalayas, one of his hobbies. The business was not a success and, to make ends meet, he decided to write of his experiences in the army. When his novels proved popular, he became a full-time writer.

In later life, Masters and his wife Barbara moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. He died in 1983 from complications following heart surgery. His family and friends scattered his ashes from an aeroplane over the mountain trails he loved to hike. General Sir Michael Rose, the former UN commander in Bosnia, is a stepson of Masters.(less)

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Books by John Masters

Average rating: 3.90 · 458 ratings · 54 reviews · 38 distinct works

	Nightrunners of Bengal 3.83 avg rating — 71 ratings — published 1951 — 7 editions	My rating:
	Bhowani Junction 3.89 avg rating — 66 ratings — 11 editions	My rating:
	The Deceivers 4.12 avg rating — 60 ratings — published 1952 — 7 editions	My rating:
	Bugles And A Tiger 4.19 avg rating — 48 ratings — published 1956 — 4 editions	My rating:
	The Road Past Mandalay: A Personal Narrative 4.40 avg rating — 35 ratings — 4 editions	My rating:
	Lotus and the Wind 3.74 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 1953 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Coromandel 3.77 avg rating — 22 ratings — published 1958 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Now, God Be Thanked: A Novel 3.79 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 1979 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Heart Of War 3.89 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 1980 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Ravi Lancers, 4.07 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 1972 — 3 editions	My rating:

More books by John Masters…

Series by John Masters

Loss of Eden Trilogy (3 books)
by John Masters

3.79 avg rating — 56 ratings

Quotes by John Masters

“As a child I had been taught to say my prayers at the start of every day, and so it did not seem an odd thing for me to stand out in the field and say "Oh God whatever happens today let it be under your perfect control.”
― John Masters, 2 Pork Chops

tags: day , god , prayers

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