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Squadron Leader John SAMPLE (90278) DFC
137 Squadron Royal Air Force Date of birth: 31st January 1913 Date of death: 28th October 1941 Killed on active service aged 28 Buried at Bothnal (St Andrew’s) Churchyard at Ashington in Northumberland
John Sample was born at Longhirst in Northumberland on the 31st of January 1913 the son of Thomas Norman Sample,a ship owner of Newcastle, and Kate Isabel Sample, of Longhirst Grange, Morpeth in Northumberland. He was educated at Aysgarth School in Yorkshire from the age of 8 and at Lancing College where he was in Seconds House from January 1927 to July 1930. He was a member of the Shooting VIII in 1930 and the Running Team in 1930. He was appointed as a House Captain in 1930. He was a gifted musician, being accomplished on a number of different instruments including the flute, concertina and Northumbrian pipes. On leaving school he qualified as a Land Agent gaining MLAS and FSI before working in partnership with his uncle, William Collings Sample, who was Land Agent to the Duke of Portland. During this period he joined the Auxiliary Air Force training at RAF Usworth, some thirty miles from his home. He was the fifth man to apply for pilot training at the base and he gained his "A" licence flying an Avro 504. On the 27th of April 1934 he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Auxiliary, received his "Wings" on the 4th of August 1934 and was posted to 607 (County of Durham) (Bomber) Squadron. He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 27th of October 1935. On the 23rd of September 1937 the squadron was re-equipped as a fighter squadron and from December 1938 was equipped with Gloucester Gladiator aircraft and was based at RAF Acklington. On the 10th of January 1939 he was appointed as Flight Commander of B Flight and on the 24th of August 1939 he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and called up for regular service. In August 1939 the squadron was in summer camp at RAF Abbotsinch near Glasgow but, with war imminent, were moblised and returned to Acklington At 12.45pm on the 17th of October 1939 “Blue” section of B Flight, under John Sample in Gladiator K7995 AF-O, was scrambled from RAF Acklington in response to reports of German seaplanes having been spotted off the coast. His fellow pilots were Flying Officer Dudley Craig and Pilot Officer William "Nit" Whitty. They patrolled at 10,000 for some time and had been ordered to return to base when they spotted a Dornier 18 Flying Boat some 25 miles off the coast flying at 1,500 feet. Sample led the attack from 8,000 feet and each Gladiator made astern attacks causing pieces of debris to come off the enemy aircraft as well as causing it to trail smoke. The return fire from the Dornier was described as "ineffective" by Whitty which was due to the German rear gunner, Unteroffizier Seydel, having been killed in the first pass by the British fighters. It was last seen losing height and heading out to sea. As their fuel and ammunition was low, John Sample led his flight back to base and they landed at 2.10 pm. The German aircraft, which was Dornier 18 8L+DK from KUFlGr 806, continued on for 35 miles before coming down in the sea near the destroyer HMS “Juno”. The commander and observer, Oberleutnant zur See Siegfried Saloga, and his surviving crew, Feldwebel Grabbet and Unterfeldwebel Hilmar Grimm, were taken prisoner. The aircraft was taken in tow by "Juno" but was so damaged by gunfire that it began to sink and the tow rope was cut. This was 607 Squadron’s first victory, each pilot being credited with a third of a kill although Craig wrote in his logbook "this was Johnnies work". On the 13th of November the squadron flew from Acklington to Croydon, flying on two days later to France, landing at Merville and then on to Vitry-en-Artois. In April 1940 the squadron re-equipped with Hurricane fighters. At 5.15am on the 10th of May 1940, Blue section of B Flight encountered three Heinkel III aircraft at 17,000 feet over Le Quesnoy. Sample, who was flying Hurricane P2615, reported the following in his combat report:- “While patrolling Douai sighted three aircraft to south-west of base, flying east. Opened to full throttle and climbed up, but was left behind by Blue 3 [Flying Officer Charles Bowen] whose aircraft was faster. Blue 3 carried out one attack, followed by Blue 2 [Flying Officer John Humpherson], during which I climbed above e/a to identify them, as I was not entirely satisfied to their identity. Having satisfied myself they were Heinkels, I carried out attack from astern on a single aircraft, flying about 500 yards behind and to one side of the other two. I fired two bursts, commencing at 350 yards and broke away at about 50 yards. During my fourth burst the e/a banked over to starboard slowly. After I broke away I could no longer see him. Oil appeared to come from e/a as my windscreen was covered with it.” It is most likely that this was Heinkel III P-21G-CC of Stab II/KG27 which crash landed and burned out at Ormeignies at 5.15am following an attack by enemy fighters. The crew of Leutnant H. W. Hover, Oberfeldwebel E. Lisse, Feldwebel H. Walz and Unteroffizier F. Schlichting were all captured without injury. At 2.30pm that afternoon nine Hurricanes were scrambled to meet an attack by Heinkel 111 bombers from KG1. They met seven of them at 12,000 feet over St Quentin and Sample led the attack in Hurricane P2615. Sample’s combat report:- “Spotted formation of seven He111s over Albert, orbiting, with one straggler 300 yards behind others which were in close vic formation. Ordered line astern and proceeded to attack straggler. After the first burst of fire from my guns, I noticed that he was closed up with the rest of his formation. I received crossfire from all the aircraft in the formation. During my second burst of fire I saw my incendiary bullets entering the fuselage and wings of e/a and the port engine gave off light coloured smoke. The e/a began to turn away from his formation. At this moment my engine was hit by several bullets and began pouring out oil, blinding me. I broke away and escaped by parachute, as I could not have seen well enough to land.” His aircraft had been hit in the wings, fuselage and engine from the crossfire of three German bombers which caused oil to pour onto his windscreen and he was forced to bail out of the stricken aircraft. The Hurricane crashed at 2.50pm and when he landed he badly sprained both ankles which ended his flying for the duration of the remainder of the Battle of France. From that day on he was forced to wear carpet slippers at all times, even when flying. During its period in France the squadron lost two commanding officers and John Sample was given command of the remains of the squadron until they were withdrawn from France on the 21st of May. For his work during the Battle of France he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross which was announced by the Air Ministry on the 4th of June 1940. The citations read:- “This officer was for most of the time in command of a Squadron which he led extremely well. He shot down two enemy aircraft during May, 1940, but was then shot down himself and forced to jump. He was a great inspiration to his squadron.” On his return to the UK in late May 1940 he was given command of 504 (County of Nottingham) Squadron which was based at RAF Wick in Northern Scotland and were equipped with Hurricanes. The squadron was responsible for providing the air defence of the naval base at Scapa Flow. On the 21st of June 1940 the squadron moved to Castletown on the Pentand Firth, bringing it closer to its patrol area. He was promoted to Squadron Leader on the 1st of September 1940. On the 1st of September the squadron moved to Catterick in preparation for a move south and on the 5th of September they squadron moved to RAF Hendon in North West London to take part in the Battle of Britain which was reaching its climax. Two days later they were in action in the Manston area of Kent and, at 5.35pm, he claimed a Dornier 215 as damaged. On the 15th of September 1940 the Germans launched their largest attack of the Battle of Britain in what was to prove to be the climax of the battle. The squadron were scrambled from Hendon at 11.15am to the Maidstone area to intercept a large enemy formation of Dornier 17s and Heinkel 111s which did not have fighter escort. By the time 504 Squadron arrived on the scene, battle had already been joined by a number of RAF squadrons and another large formation of enemy bombers was approaching from the south at 15,000 feet. Sample spotted this formation, made up largely of Dornier 17s, and led his squadron to the attack. At 12.10 he saw a Dornier 17 which was already trailing smoke, having been attacked by five fighters. He climbed up above the enemy aircraft and dived down on it. As he approached he noticed a red light in the cockpit and, when he got closer, he realised that the length of the inside of the stricken aircraft was on fire. He gave it a short burst of machine gun fire and saw it go into a spin as the tail section broke away. The outer part of the wings came away as well and it headed vertically towards the ground although he did not see it crash. In fact, immediately after Sample’s attack, the Dornier had been rammed by Sergeant Ray Holmes who, having run out of ammunition had decided on more drastic action and had deliberately collided with the enemy machine’s tail section causing his Hurricane to lose its wing, although he managed to parachute to safety. The Dornier (2361) plunged earthwards crashing into the forecourt of Victoria Station. The pilot, Oberleutnant Robert Zehbe of 1/KG 76 escaped by parachute and landed in Kennington where he was so badly beaten by a mob he died of his injuries the following day. At 1.35pm 504 Squadron was scrambled again although on this occasion they took off from RAF Hornchurch and, in concert with 249 Squadron, attacked a formation of Dornier 17s over Gravesend. The enemy formation broke up and at 2.35pm Sample picked out a Dornier which was making a run for home at 7,000 feet. He made four attacks firing two second bursts from his machine guns which caused the Dornier to force land adjacent to Barnehurst Golf Course at 2.45pm. This was Dornier 17Z-2 5K+ JM 3457 flown by Leutnant Herbert Michaelis who had been temporarily blinded by the attack but recovered and was taken prisoner Two of his crew, Unteroffiziers Burballa and Hansburg were killed when they bailed out of the aircraft when it was too low. It was reported that John Sample performed a "Victory Roll" over the wreckage of the Dornier. Sample then turned back to the fight and joined with others in an attack on a Heinkel 111 2771 of II/KG 53 flown by Unteroffizier Lange. He made two attacks, expending the last of his ammunition and forcing the riddled aircraft to crash land on to West Malling airfield. His own words describe this action:- “I started to chase one Dornier which was flying through the tops of the clouds. Did you ever see that film "Hells Angels?" You'll remember how the Zeppelin came so slowly out of the cloud. Well, this Dornier reminded me of that. I attacked him four times altogether. When he first appeared through the cloud—you know how clouds go up and down like foam on water —I fired at him from the left, swung over to the right, turned in towards another hollow in the cloud, where I expected him to reappear, and fired at him again. After my fourth attack he dived down headlong into a clump of trees in front of a house, and I saw one or two cars parked in the gravel drive in front. I wondered whether there was anyone in the doorway watching the bomber crash. Then I climbed up again to look for some more trouble and found it in the shape of a Heinkel III which was being attacked by three Hurricanes and a couple of Spitfires. I had a few cracks at the thing before it made a perfect landing on an RAF aerodrome. The Heinkels undercarriage collapsed and the pilot pulled up, after skidding 50 yards in a cloud of dust. I saw a tall man get out of the right-hand side of the aircraft, and when I turned back he was helping a small man across the aerodrome towards a hangar.” On the 26th of September the squadron moved to Filton and then later to Exeter. During this time they were responsible for the air defence of the Bristol and Westland aircraft factories. When the Battle of Britain ended he led the squadron on offensive sweeps over France. In March 1941 he was taken off operations for a rest and in May he was posted to 10 Group Headquarters as a fighter controller. On the 20th of September 1941 137 Squadron was formed at RAF Chamy Down, near Bath in Somerset and John Sample was posted as their Squadron Commander. They were equipped with the brand new Westland Whirlwind, twin engined, four cannon fighter. The squadron became operational on the 20th of October and undertook their first operation on the 24th of October when they attacked, several trains carrying fuel containers in railway sidings at Landernau, near Brest. John Sample, who was flying Whirlwind P7053, attacked several wagons. At 5.45pm on the afternoon of the 28th of October John Sample, flying Whirlwind P7053, and Sergeant M.J. Peskett flying P7058, took off to do a formation practice to the south of Bath. Sergeant John Frederick Luing took off ten minutes later to carry out practice attacks. The three aircraft carried out formation turns at about 1,000 feet for some minutes when Sample ordered Luing to break away for a practice attack. When he was approaching for the second practice attack, at about 6.10pm, Luing saw Sample’s aircraft spinning down out of control. He saw Sample jump from the aircraft and although his parachute opened the canopy did not deploy and he landed on the roof of some farm building at Manor Farm near Englishcombe. The aircraft landed on the same buildings and burst into flames. His body was taken to Bath Military Hospital and his funeral took place on the 31st of October 1941. An investigation determined that Sergeant Peskett’s propeller had hit the tail section of Sample’s aircraft although Peskett was unaware of what had occurred. He is commemorated on the Battle of Britain Memorial in London and on the memorial at Longhirst in Northumberland.

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