Samuel was born in 1921 in Greenock, Renfrewshire to Scottish born parents Michael and Amy nee Gemmell and had a sister Elizabeth and a brother Michael. Samuel’s grandparents emigrated from Greece.

Samuel enlisted in the RAF in 1938 as an aircraft-hand. His death record states that he was a LAC in 326 M.U. and he died in the Civil Military Hospital, Asansol, Bengal of burns received as a result of a fire.