Masel was the fourth child of Russian born Jews, Esor Masel and Leah Cohen who had emigrated in 1887 and 1925, and established a menswear store in Perth. Masel was educated at Highgate State School and Christian Brothers' College, Perth. He wanted to become a professional writer but joined the family business as an advertising manager.
Masel was active in the Jewish community and co-edited the Westralian Judean from 1929. He contributed articles to the Bulletin and Smith's Weekly. In 1931 he married Marian Mendelson, a concert singer. Masel was a keen debater and actor in local Jewish theatre, writing an unpublished play, 'Cloth Model', and a novel, In a Glass Prison (1937). He worked as a drama critic for the National Theatre News. Masel also co-authored The Art of Debating (1934) and Improve Your Salesmanship (1935).
Masel enlisted in the Australian Army on the 20 July 1940 and was discharged on the 30 October 1945. He was with the 2/28 Australian Infantry Battalion and was mentioned in dispatches at Tobruk, Libya in 1941 and commended for gallantry in action at El Alamein, Egypt in 1942. Masel also participated in operations in North Borneo in 1945 and continued with the Citizen Military Forces until 1963 when he held the rank of brigadier.
Masel had acted as a war correspondent for the West Australian and went on to write a history of his battalion, The Second 28th (1961). He also wrote regularly in Jewish publications and helped found the Liberal Jewish Group in Perth in 1952. Masel succeeded his brother as general manager of Worth's Stores in 1966. He was appointed a Commissioner of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1967 and a member of the West Australian Arts Advisory Board in 1970.
(Source: David Mossenson, 'Masel, Philip (1908 - 1972)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 15, MUP, 2000, pp 323-324.).
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