REMEMBRANCE DAY 2017: Allan Gilchrist Samuel shot down in France
Edited from a submission by Betty-Anne Samuel
Allan Samuel was born on June 9, 1920. He attended Arthur High School where the principal described him as a very quiet, tall and thin, soft-spoken and hard-working fellow who loved living on the family farm.
After successfully passing Fourth Form, Samuel enlisted on April 1, 1942, in London, Ontario. He entered the Royal Canadian Air Force as an air bomber, serving with 428 Squadron.
From all reports, and from reading his letters, it seems Samuel was a very serious young man, and his heart never really left the farm. Most of his letters were asking about what was happening there rather than writing much about his life in the forces. He talks of some “very busy nights over Germany” and also “some terrible sights to be seen,” but then talks about wishing to be home with his family for Christmas.
Samuel was shot down by enemy fire on Nov. 2, 1944, and died only eight weeks after his brother, Ross, was killed in France. He is buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Cleve, Germany.
Samuel received the Air Bomber Badge, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, 1939 to 1945 Star, and France and Germany Star.
This story is published in the Arthur and Area World War One and Two Veterans’ Book.
