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Sammy Sampson

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Sammy Sampson
Birth nameRalph William Fraser Sampson
Date of birth(1913-09-26)26 September 1913
Place of birthChile
Date of death31 January 2003(2003-01-31) (aged 89)
Place of deathBishopton, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1937-47 London Scottish ()
- Kelvinside-West ()
- Co-Optimists ()
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1938 Blues Trial ()
1939 Scotland Probables ()
-
1947
Middlesex
London Counties
()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1939-47 Scotland 2 (0)
- Barbarians

Sammy Sampson (26 September 1913 – 31 January 2003) was a Scotland international rugby union player.[1]

Rugby union career

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Amateur career

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Sampson played for London Scottish.[2]

He played for the Co-Optimists.[3]

He played for Kelvinside-West.[4]

Provincial career

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He played for Blues Trial against Whites Trial on 17 December 1938.[5]

He then played for Scotland Probables against Scotland Possibles on 14 January 1939.[6]

He played for Middlesex and London Counties after the Second World War.[7] He captained London against Australia in 1947 on Boxing Day.[8]

International career

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He played for Scotland twice in the period 1939 to 1947.[9]

He also played for the Barbarians.[3]

Military career

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He joined the London Scottish Territorials in 1937. When the war started he was commissioned in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders 6th battalion, but he transferred to the Royal Air Force.[3]

He was a Spitfire pilot in the Second World War. He joined the 602 City of Glasgow squadron. He flew in the Dieppe Raid and destroyed two Focke-Wulfs and damaged two Dorniers.[7][10]

He then joined the 131 County of Kent squadron, and downed another five Focke-Wulfs.[7][10]

He was appointed to command the Free French wing, and taught them how to fly the Spitfire. He flew 189 operations in the war.[7]

After the war, he commanded the West of Scotland Air Training Corps[clarification needed].[7]

He wrote a book Spitfire Offensive: A Fighter Pilot's War Memoir recounting his actions.[3]

Business career

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He was a managing director of Ault & Wiborg Company. This was a firm that supplied printing ink to newspaper groups.[7]

Family

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His family were based in Chile and were railway entrepreneurs in the country.[7]

He married Margaret Lenny in 1946. They met at a London Scottish ball that same year.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Ralph William Fraser Sampson". ESPN scrum.
  2. ^ The Essential History of Rugby Union:Scotland. Nick Oswald and John Griffiths. Headline Publishing. 2003.
  3. ^ a b c d "Spitfire pilots and aircraft database - G/C Ralph William Fraser Sampson RAF". allspitfirepilots.org.
  4. ^ "Register". Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  6. ^ "The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "Ralph Sampson Scottish rugby international hooker, leading industrialist, and distinguished Spitfire pilot". HeraldScotland. 21 February 2003.
  8. ^ "Register". Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Rugby Union - ESPN Scrum - Statsguru - Player analysis - Sammy Sampson - Test matches". ESPN scrum.
  10. ^ a b "Sampson, Ralph William Fraser "Sammy" - TracesOfWar.com". www.tracesofwar.com.