Samuel was born in 1921 in St George in the East, London to Russian born parents Morris and Rachel nee Saltzman, and he was the youngest of eight children. Morris, their father who worked as a tailor, died in 1929 when Samuel was ten years old. In 1939 the family were living in Hackney and three of Samuel’s brothers Manny, Jack and Sidney are listed as being taxicab garage proprietors.

Samuel enlisted in 1943 and was a RAF Police Officer. He was killed during an air raid.