Samuel was the third of the six children of Thomas and Catherine Collett of No. 119 Himley Rd.
His Attestation Papers for the Militia (forerunners of the Territorial Force) survive; dated 6th December 1901 when he was aged 19, he was working for Mr Clarke’s glazed brick works on the Netherton Road. He subsequently transferred to the Regular Army on 15th July 1903.
It is not known whether he was still serving at the outbreak of the war or whether he was a recalled Reservist; regardless, he landed in France with his battalion on 12th August 1914.
Killed in action on 14th November 1914, his name appears on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres. The 2nd Worcesters were holding trenches to the north-east of Polygon Wood at the time of his death. It is highly likely that he had fought in the famous engagement at Gheluvelt on 31st October, when the 2nd Worcesters saved the BEF from defeat.
A bachelor, his name is carved on the walls of Dudley's civic war memorial in Priory St and also on the memorial at St James, Eve Hill.
Note: This story is based on his entry in the book “Dudley’s 1914-1918 War Memorial and the Men commemorated – 2nd Revised & Expanded Edition” by J. B. E. Hale.
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