Samuel was born on 2 April 1916 in east London to Hyman and Annie nee Hydleman and he had eight siblings.

Before enlisting Samuel worked as a barber in Bethnal Green, London.

Samuel was killed during the Battle of Hong Kong which was fought from 8-25 December 1941. It was one of the first battles of the Pacific War. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbour, forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the British Crown colony of Hong Kong around the same time that Japan declared war on Great Britain. The Hong Kong garrison consisted of British, Indian and Canadian units and also the Auxiliary Defence Units and Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps.

Of the three territories of Hong Kong, the defenders abandoned the two mainland territories of Kowloon and New Territories within a week. Less than two weeks later, with their last territory Hong Kong Island untenable, the colony surrendered.