This delightful picture of “Sammy” Sampson was taken a few months before he was killed. The little girl is Anne, the daughter of his friend and pilot Ian McRitchie -- and seventy-five years later Anne is relating this story from her home in New South Wales. He is buried in St Denis Eglise cemetery near Amiens.
WHILE Sqn Ldr Ian McRitchie lay unconscious alongside his wrecked aircraft after being shot down on the Amiens prison raid, his navigator and friend Dick “Sammy” Sampson was dead in the cockpit.
Both men were among the thousands of Commonwealth personnel who journeyed halfway around the world to fight for the cause of freedom. In the case of Richard Webb Sampson his determination was such that he took three years off his age so he could train as a pilot.
Richard Webb Sampson, inevitably nicknamed ‘Sammy’ when he joined the RNZAF, was born at Dannevirke, a village in the Manawatu-Wanganui region of North Island, New Zealand.
He became a farmer and while working as a stock agent he learned to fly with Auckland Aero Club. When war broke out he applied for service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force in January 1940, reducing his age by three years, and was posted to Ohakea, North Island where he trained as an air gunner and was promoted to Sergeant.
Dick arrived in England in early September 1940 and after training in Scotland he was posted to 151 Squadron at Wittering as a gunner in Defiant night fighters. He carried out 64 operational sorties during which he shot down two German bombers, a Heinkel 111 and a Junkers 88. During this time he met Ian McRitchie and flew with him on many occasions.
In July 1941 he qualified as a navigator and was promoted Flying Officer as 151 converted to the Mosquito NF MkII. He flew armed patrols, shipping strikes and low level attacks, one being on the German radar site at Plancoet, France. He was promoted Flight Lieutenant in July 1943 and after a period in Headquarters 2 Group RAF he was posted to 464 Squadron RAAF at Hunsdon, where he once again paired up with
Ian McRitchie.
Dick Sampson is buried in St Denis Eglise cemetery at Poix de Picardie, 25 kilometres south-west of the city of Amiens. His was not his family’s only sacrifice, for his younger brother, 34 year old Henry Wools Sampson, was killed in July 1942 while flying his third operation as a gunner with 149 Squadron. His Short Stirling was shot down by a German night fighter in north-east France.
Next post: Ian recovers in hospital from severe injuries and finishes the war in a prison camp.