Masters had to order the medical orderlies to shoot 19 of his own men, casualties who had no hope of recovery or rescue. The isolated position was attacked with great intensity for seventeen days and eventually the brigade was forced to withdraw. In May, the brigade was ordered to hold a position code-named ‘Blackpool’ near Mogaung in northern 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. From March, 1944, the brigade served behind the Japanese lines in Burma. This caused a small scandal at the time.Īfter 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. Here he met the wife of a fellow officer and began an affair. In early 1942, he attended the Indian Army Staff College at Quetta. Masters subsequently served in Iraq, Syria and Persia. 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.ĭuring World War II his battalion was sent to Basra in Iraq, during the brief Anglo-Iraqi War. 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 was educated at Wellington and Sandhurst. Masters was the son of a lieutenant-colonel whose family had a long tradition of service in the Indian Army.
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