Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

MASTERS, Edward George (1908-1942)

_{2/16th Battalion, 21st Infantry Brigade, 7th Division – Egypt, Palestine, Kokoda}

Edward George Masters was the eldest son of Edward Albert Masters and Esther Masters (born Doust). Edward was born in Albany, Western Australia, on 3 April 1908. Shortly after this, his parents moved from Western Australia to Red Hill, South Australia, where his father had been raised. Edward’s two younger brothers were born in Red Hill, Albert Henry in 1909 and John Lindsay in 1913.

In 1915 Edward’s father joined the AIF and left his family to fight for King and country. Having survived many of the major battles of the Western Front, Edward Senior was killed in action at Harbonnières, near Villers-Bretonneux, on 9 August 1918. Following her husband’s death, Esther Masters took her three sons back to live with her family in Western Australia. Edward married Grace and by 1940 the couple were living in Perth. Like his father before him, Edward was in his thirties and married to his wife, Grace, when war broke out again. Edward Junior enlisted in the Second AIF on 29 Jun 1940 as a member of the 2/16th Infantry Battalion.

After the outbreak of World War II, the 2/16th Battalion was formed in Western Australia as part of the 7th Division. Brigadier Alfred Baxter-Cox, a Perth architect and Great War veteran reverted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and took up command. Initially, they recruited from an office next to Swan Barracks in Francis Street (across from the museum) and then moved up to Northam Army Camp, 60 miles east of Perth in the Avon Valley, to commence their training. 

On the completion of their training the battalion marched the 60 miles to Perth and in a final ceremonial parade down St George's Terrace past the convict-built Government House on 10 October 1940, the men wore their new colour patch (a white rectangle over blue rectangle on a diamond of grey) for the first time. Veterans of the Old 16th were there to see the parade. There many tears down tough, weathered faces.

On 25 October 1940, a troop train transported them to Fremantle and they boarded the Aquitania for passage to the Middle East. Already aboard were their distant cousins, the Victorian 2/14th Battalion. Together with the South Australian 2/27th Battalion, the three units would comprise the 21st Infantry Brigade.

They disembarked at El Kantara on 25 November 1940. From there they were moved into Palestine to Julis Camp near Gaza. Subsequently, the unit was stationed at Dimrah and at Mersa Matruh in Egypt while the High Command decided what their fate should be. It was a case of hurry up and wait; boredom and discontent set in. It was to be 13 months in all before they were sent into action.

In mid-1941 the Allies feared a German presence in Syria would compromise the security of the Suez Canal region. Vichy French forces sympathetic to the Nazi regime were centred on Beirut and held strong positions down the coast through Palestine. It was an ideal situation for the Germans to build up a presence and conceivably launch an attack. General Charles de Gaulle, the Free French commander, urged Churchill to launch an invasion into Palestine and Syria. In consequence, General Wavell began preparing an expeditionary force to be called Operation Exporter.

The core of the hurriedly assembled force was to be two brigades of the AIF 7th Division, the 21st and 25th (the 18th was trapped in Tobruk) while other units were the battle-hardened 2/3rd and 2/5th Battalions of the 6th Division, the 6th and 9th Division Cavalry and complimentary units of artillery, anti-tank, machine-gunners and pioneers. There was also the 5th Indian Brigade and a Free French Force of 5,000; a total of 34,000 men supported by twenty ships and seventy aircraft. Arraigned against them was a comparable force of 35,000 Senegalese, Algerians, Moroccans, Syrians, Circassians, White Russians and, of course, a sizeable presence of French Foreign Legion units.

Forward elements of the 2/16th Battalion crossed the border into Palestine at 2 am on 8 June 1941 with Major Arnold Potts MC in command of the advance guard. The 25 mile advance to the Litani River was made over difficult, mountainous country. The troops had been instructed to wear their slouch hats in the vain hope that the French, remembering the Australians as brothers-in-arms from the 1st World War, would not fire on them. It didn’t take long to don helmets again once the bullets and bombs began flying.

The Litani River presented a considerable obstacle to the Australian 21st Brigade as it advanced along the southern Lebanon coast. Like many natural obstacles, the Litani had been incorporated into the Vichy French defensive plan, and strong, well-sited positions had been sited in the hills to the south of the river. Realising how critical it was to a rapid advance, the plan for the Allied invasion of Syria included a seaborne commando landing to seize the bridge that carried the coastal road across the Litani. On the first day of the invasion, heavy surf prevented the commandos landing and their operation was postponed until the morning of 9 June. By this time the 2/16th Battalion was advancing towards the bridge along the road. The commandos were to land north of the river at 4:30 am and capture the bridge; the 2/16th would attack at 5.30 am if they were unsuccessful.

The commando operation was unable to achieve its objectives and thus the 2/16th Battalion was committed to the attack. A plan to rush the bridge was forestalled when its defenders blew it up, leaving the 2/16th with no option but to cross the Litani, under fire, in a single canvas assault boat. The boat could carry no more than eight men so the crossing was slow, but a bridgehead was established on the north bank, east of the bridge, and progressively enlarged. By early afternoon sufficient troops were across the river to allow the main Vichy French positions on the ridge above it to be tackled. A series of attacks, supported by artillery, steadily cleared the ridge throughout the afternoon and early evening. Communications difficulties, however, resulted in a breakdown of the co-operation with the artillery and two naval vessels providing fire support, and the infantry had to withdraw from some of the positions they had captured to avoid being shelled by their comrades. Nevertheless, the ridge was firmly in Australian hands by the night's end.

West of the bridge, another fight had been going on throughout the day. C Company of the 2/16th and a party of commandos that had been incorrectly landed behind them had advanced towards the river under heavy fire from Vichy French redoubts on the north bank and suffered grievously. It was not until early afternoon that they were able, also using a single canvas boat, to gain a foothold on the far bank. Due to determined French resistance, progress here was much slower than along the ridge - it was not until late that night when a company of the 2/27th Battalion had been ferried across the river, that Vichy French resistance was finally subdued. With the Vichy French positions north of the river destroyed, the 2/6th Field Company were able to construct a temporary bridge across the river, and at 5 am on 10 June the first vehicles and men of the 2/27th Battalion crossed it to resume the advance along the coast.

There was little time to rest. On the following day, the brigade marched north again on the coastal thrust, synchronising with other brigade strength thrusts through the central and eastern routes.

In 1941, the Lebanese coastal town of Sidon had a population of approximately 12,000 people. It was the largest town that the 21st Australian Brigade had thus far encountered. Due to the presence of the large civilian population and a great deal of historic architecture, the Australians at first sought to parley with Sidon's Vichy French defenders. They were rebuffed by artillery fire and the 2/16th Battalion was ordered to attack on 13 June. The plan involved an advance of six and a half kilometres, across open country in daylight, to Sidon, and then a further advance of four and a half kilometres beyond it. A and D Companies would advance side by side, on the left and right respectively, and C and B would follow a little under a kilometre to the rear. The infantry was to be supported by artillery fire from the 2/4th Field Regiment.

Crossing the start line at 10 am, A Company, despite encountering machine-gun posts and tanks, made steady progress and reached its objective about 3 pm. Once there, however, there was no sign of either D Company to the left, or C Company behind. Isolated and vulnerable, it withdrew until it encountered C Company, which had been held up by prowling Vichy French tanks, south of Sidon. In the meantime, D and B Companies had been fighting for their very existence. As they passed Sidon's eastern outskirts they were heavily attacked by eight Vichy French tanks supported by mortars and infantry. Both company commanders were killed and, with no effective weapons with which to tackle the tanks, the companies scattered. Two anti-tank guns were brought forward but, firing at extreme range, made little impact, and it was only the direct fire of two 25 pounders that was able to curb the exuberance of the tanks and allow the infantry to escape. During the battle, the 2/16ths headquarters and the exposed positions of the 2/4th Field Regiment were also heavily attacked by Vichy French aircraft. The heavy casualties suffered by the 2/16th on 13 June led to becoming known as 'Black Friday' within the battalion.

Throughout 14 June the 2/16th held positions south of Sidon. The Vichy French attempted an attack late in the afternoon but this was broken up by artillery fire. That day the 2/27th Battalion unsuccessfully attacked Vichy positions at Miyeoumiye, in the hills south-east of Sidon. The next morning, however, their patrols found that the Vichy French had withdrawn from the whole Sidon area and by early afternoon troops of both the 2/27th and 2/16th Battalions had entered the town. The 2/16th did not stay long.

After four days the depleted ranks of the 2/16th Battalion left a company in Sidon and trudged north again to the original objectives of Black Friday moved, clearing out scattered pockets of resistance. By this time, after four weeks of campaigning, casualties and sickness had reduced the effective strength of the battalion to 270 men.

On 25 June they reached El Harem Ridge and preparation for the battle of possession of the town of Damour began. Here lay the last pocket of resistance against the Allied advance on Damascus the capital and on Bierut the French headquarters.

The battle of Damour was the final major operation of the Australian campaign in Syria and Lebanon. Damour is a large town on the Lebanon coast of approximately 30 kilometres south of Beirut, which in 1941 was the French administrative capital. The Wadi Damour, with the Damour River in its bed, was a further three kilometres to the south of the town. It was the last major natural obstacle that had to be crossed prior to reaching Beirut. Having already captured the heights overlooking Damour on the south bank of the wadi, the plan developed by Major General Arthur "Tubby" Allen, commanding the 7th Australian Division, involved encircling the French positions at Damour.

The operation began on the night of 5 July 1941 with troops of the 21st Brigade moving into position to cross the Damour River in two places. They attacked French positions on the northern side early on 6 July - the 2/16th Battalion at El Atiqa, the 2/27th at El Boum. By nightfall, both positions were in Australian hands. In the early hours of 7 July the 2/3rd and 2/5th Battalions, and two companies of the 2/14th then moved northwards through El Boum, outflanking Damour to the east. At Daraya, the 2/14th companies swung west to advance on Damour from the east, while the 2/3rd and 2/5th Battalions continued north to cut the road to Beirut north of the town, which they accomplished on 8 July. In the south, the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion and elements of the 6th Divisional Cavalry Regiment were advancing along the axis of the coastal road. By 2 am on 9 July the Pioneers were advancing into the southern outskirts of the town, and at 4 am a patrol from the cavalry were able to drive right through; the French had withdrawn. The Australians immediately began pushing along the coastal road towards Beirut. The Vichy French commander, General Henri Dentz, had sought an armistice on 8 July and at one minute past midnight on 12 July, a ceasefire came into effect, ending the campaign.

Estimates vary but the overall Allied casualties during the campaign vary between 1505 (Official History) and 1682 (Blamey cable 19.7.41). In all the 2/16th Battalion had lost 269 men killed or wounded in the push.

On the 15 July, the 2/16th Battalion led the march into Bierut to great fanfare. People lined the roads all the way from Damour, up the Rue Damas to the Place de Martyrs (or 'Place Tomatoes' as the Australians called it).

There followed a period of well-earned rest in Bierut (the 'Paris of the East'), after which the Brigade was allotted a peace-keeping role at Syr, 6,500 feet above sea level where the men spent Christmas and New Year in bitter conditions of ice, snow, sleet, hail and mud.

This time they did not have long to wait to learn of their new role. Fate had already decided. To the north of Australia, Japanese forces were moving rapidly down the Malayan Peninsular and spreading their tendrils across the South-West Pacific region towards the Australian mainland.

With the entry of Japan into the war after the bombing of Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941, Australian Prime Minister, John Curtin and his cabinet decided that the A.I.F. 6th and 7th Divisions should be returned to Australia from the Middle East as a matter of urgency. After sailing from Egypt on 30 January 1942, The 2/16th Battalion arrived at Fremantle on 15 March 1942. With a very short layover in the port, the Western Australians were allowed leave from which most of the men, over 350, had absented themselves without leave when they missed the sailing time. The battalion disembarked at Adelaide on 25 March and the miscreants were reunited with their unit at the end of the month. After a short period of leave and training in Adelaide, the battalion was stationed in Queensland on the so-called Brisbane Line in case of a Japanese invasion.

The Japanese landed on the northern coast of New Guinea on the 21/22 July 1942 and, unexpectedly began to march over the Owen Stanley Ranges with the intent of capturing Port Moresby and the vital airfields there. Had they succeeded the mainland of Australia would have come under extreme threat.

The 21st Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Arnold Potts DSO MC, who had formerly been the commanding officer of the 2/16th, was rushed to New Guinea and, within days, its 1500 members were climbing into the precarious Owen Stanley Ranges in an attempt to position themselves to stop the advance of the Japanese forces, now building up to over ten thousand men and already engaging the ill-trained but gallant militia 39th Battalion at Isurava in the foothills on the far side of the range.

What followed will forever go down as one of the most heroic defensive actions in the annals of military history. From the 26 August to 16 September 1942 the 2/16th Battalion, together with Brigadier Potts's Maroubra Force   (the Victorian 2/14th, the South Australian 2/27th, the militia 39th and scattered elements of the ill-trained militia 53rd battalions), out-numbered by an estimated 5:1 and out-gunned by superior weaponry, fought the Japanese to an eventual standstill on the ridges over-looking Port Moresby.

Two main battles were fought during that period (Isurava, 26 to 29 August and Brigade ['Butchers'] Hill from 6 to 8 September), but in the main, the desperately tired but determined force kept themselves between the Japanese Major-General Horii's South Sea Force and Port Moresby - defending, retreating and then counter-attacking in a masterly display of strategic defence. Conditions were almost indescribable. It rained for much of the time, the weary men endured some of the most difficult and exhausting terrain in the world and, increasingly, they were racked by malaria and dysentery. But they kept fighting, making the enemy pay dearly for every yard of ground. They bought time for those being prepared to come up from Port Moresby to relieve them.

Abuari was a small village in the Owen Stanley Mountains in Papua that stood on a narrow track that left the Kokoda Track at Alola. When the Japanese advance along the track was held at Isurava in the last days of August 1942, they sought to outflank this position via Abuari. On 28 August troops from both the 53rd and 2/16th Battalions pushed forward along the track to Abuari to stop the Japanese. On 29 August A and B Companies of the 2/16th were unsuccessful in their attempts to force the Japanese from Abuari and D Company of the 53rd embarked upon an outflanking move. Rough country prevented the company from making much progress and the companies of the 2/16th renewed their frontal assaults on the morning of 30 August, again without success. By midday, the Japanese were infiltrating the area between the Australians and the junction with the Kokoda Track at Alola. Late in the afternoon, the Australians were ordered to withdraw back to Alola.

At Abuari the 2/16th lost 7 soldiers killed and 1 officer and 22 soldiers wounded, mostly from A Company during its 9 am encounter with 100 Japanese who were dug in above a waterfall in well-concealed positions and equipped with at least two heavy machine guns. One man was badly wounded when he tried to stop himself falling down the cliff by grabbing one of his mates who in turn grabbed another, all three falling down the cliff together.

Edward Masters was not among the 143 remaining men of the original 1500 or so when they were finally withdrawn. His remains lay somewhere near Abuari while the survivors of Maroubra Force were paraded before their Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Thomas Blamey at Koitaki and unfairly accused of running from the enemy like rabbits. Some weeks later they were sent in across open ground against well prepared Japanese positions at Gona on the northern shores of Papua when it was known that it was virtually suicide to do so. The 2/16th Battalion left the Gona battlefield with less than 50 'fit' men.

The 'long eye' of history has brought into focus now a series of command initiatives and actions which border on the infamous. The controversies about those decisions still rage to this day.

Edward Masters’ remains were eventually recovered from the Kokoda Track and reinterred at the Bomana War Cemetery near the beginning of the track outside Port Moresby.

Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Honner DSO MC, who commanded the 39th Battalion in the action on the Kokoda Track, later wrote of these men in the foreword to Peter Brune's book, Those Ragged Bloody Heroes:

'They have joined the immortals...'

He likened them all to King Henry V's soldiers at Agincourt. Of those who did not survive he wrote:

'...Wherever their bones may lie, the courage of heroes is consecrated in the hearts and engraved in the history of the free.'