MASTERS, James William
| Service Numbers: | 1075, N339171 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 June 1915, Liverpool, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Bombardier |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Balgownie, New South Wales, 21 May 1892 |
| Home Town: | Balgownie, Wollongong, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Balgownie Public School |
| Occupation: | Coal miner |
| Died: | Acute haemoptysis, Balgownie, New South Wales, 2 December 1955, aged 63 years |
| Cemetery: |
Wollongong Cemetery, NSW |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Jun 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1075, 19th Infantry Battalion, Liverpool, New South Wales | |
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| 25 Jun 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1075, 19th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Jun 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1075, 19th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Melbourne | |
| 30 Jan 1918: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 19th Infantry Battalion | |
| 15 Feb 1919: | Transferred AIF WW1, Sergeant, 20th Infantry Battalion | |
| 31 Oct 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1075, 20th Infantry Battalion |
World War 2 Service
| 17 May 1942: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Bombardier, N339171 |
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"James William Masters (1892-1955), soccer player and coalminer, was born on 21 May 1892 at Balgownie, New South Wales, seventh of thirteen children of Alexander George Masters, a miner from Nova Scotia, Canada, and his Sydney-born wife Frances Eliza, née Campbell. He was nicknamed 'Judy', possibly because his mother chose the name during pregnancy, but probably due to his gentleness which contrasted with his three boisterous elder brothers. Many British miners reared on Association football were employed on the coalfields around Wollongong. Judy attended Balgownie Public School where soccer dominated the playground. He captained his school team and, at the age of 12, displaying precocious talent, joined the Balgownie Soccer Club.
Entering first grade at the age of 15, Masters played for Balgownie (1904-11, 1919-29), and for the Sydney clubs, Newtown (1912-13) and Granville (1914-15). About 5 ft 7 ins (170 cm) tall and weighing only ten stone (64 kg), he was all muscle and bone. His toughness, honed by hewing coal, for he had followed his father into the mines, did not equate with roughness. He was never cautioned by a referee in more than 400 club and representative games. As centre forward, Masters was an instinctive player who valued teamwork. Although naturally shy, he was also a leader, progressively captaining Balgownie, South Coast, New South Wales and Australia.
Masters enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 1 June 1915. Serving with the 19th Battalion, he saw action at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. On 26 July 1916 at Pozières, France, he was wounded in the shoulder. Promoted sergeant in May 1918, he returned to Sydney in August 1919 and was discharged on 31 October. While on leave in England he had met Annie Barraclough of County Durham. They were married at St Michael's Anglican Church, Wollongong, on 23 June 1920 and set up house at Balgownie where they raised two daughters; their son died in infancy." - READ MORE LINK (adb.anu.edu.au)
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