Samuel was born on 7 February 1914 in St Marylebone, London to Polish born parents Samuel, a tailor, and Sarah nee Blind. His older sister Becky was born in Poland in 1911 and the family then travelled to England where Samuel and his younger brother Abraham were born.

Samuel served in the Merchant Navy from 1936 and in 1940 he joined the M.V. Lady Glanely, a motor merchant ship, which had a cargo of wheat and lumber. The ship was travelling from Vancouver, British Columbia to London via Panama and Bermuda. At 05.07 hours on 2 Dec 1940 the ship in convoy HX-90 was torpedoed and sunk by U-101 about 410 miles west of Bloody Foreland. All 33 crew were lost.