Royal Military College, Sandhurst Lieutenant Colonel John Masters, DSO, OBE (26 October 1914 – 7 May 1983) was a British novelist and regular officer of the Indian Army.

In World War II, he served with the Chindits behind enemy lines in Burma, and became the GSO1 (chief staff officer) of the 19th Indian Infantry Division.

Masters is principally known for his historical novels set in India, notably Bhowani Junction, which was turned into a successful film.

Masters was the son of a regular soldier, a lieutenant-colonel whose family had a long tradition of service in the British Indian Army.

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.

[1] In 1938, he organised a hunt for a leopard reported to be roaming the depot at Bakloh, only to find himself facing a full-grown tiger (which killed one of the Gurkhas acting as beaters).

Masters subsequently served in Iraq, Syria, and Persia with the battalion, before being briefly seconded as a staff officer in a Line of Communications HQ.

[3] After briefly commanding the 3rd battalion of his regiment, Masters subsequently became GSO1 (the Chief of Staff) of the Indian 19th Infantry Division, which was involved in the later stages of the Burma Campaign.

He left the army in 1948 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and moved to the United States, where he set up a business promoting walking tours in the Himalayas, one of his hobbies.

Clay's biography provides details that Masters omitted from the three volumes of autobiography he wrote: Bugles and a Tiger (1956); Road Past Mandalay (1961); and Pilgrim Son (1971).

Bugles and a Tiger, details Masters's time at Sandhurst and service on India's northwest frontier on the eve of the Second World War.

Road Past Mandalay deals mostly with the Burma campaign in the War, while Pilgrim Son chronicles his career as a writer.

[citation needed] The 1959 Fandango Rock, written in between the Indian books, is an exception – its plot being set in the fascist Spain ruled by General Franco and focusing on the relationship between the American and Spanish governments.