Major Gordon Alexander Sampson was born 23 November 1888 in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Alexander Sampson and Mary Alice Winters. He attended the Ontario Provincial Model School before attending Jarvis Collegiate Institute. There he was a member of the QOR Cadet Corps run by (then) Captain William Michell, also of the QOR.

He married Edna Laughten Snider on 3 September 1910 in Buffalo, New York, and they had one son Crawford who died in 1962.

Sampson died 10 September 1980 in Reno Nevada.

Service Record:

• 16 Apr 1906 – Enlisted with the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada as a private
• 24 Apr 1907 – Promoted to Corporal
• 1 Apr 1908 – Promoted to Sergeant
• 4 June 1908 – Commissioned as an officer with the rank of Lieutenant
• 15 Sep 1914 Posted to School of Instruction for candidates for Non-Commissioned and Commissioned Officer rank
• 1 Mar 1915 – Appointed Regimental Recruiting Officer and placed on active duty
• 15 Oct 1915 – Seconded to 81st Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Given command of A Company with the CEF rank of Captain
• 23 Dec 1915 – Promoted to Major
• 27 Apr 1916 – Proceeded to England with the 81st Bn and acted as Regimental Adjutant until it was broken up for reinforcements
• Drafted to France with some 250 Officers as replacements to Canadian Divisions. Posted to the 60th Battalion, 12th Brigade, 3rd Division, Canadian Army Corps
• 12 Aug 1916 – Wounded at Hill 60, Ypres, Belgium (60th Bn suffered something like 500 killed and wounded including nearly all their officers.)
• Evacuated as a stretcher case to England where after convalescence, was boarded “unfit for front line duty” and thus classified for “light duty, England”. Posted as an administrative officer to the Epsom Convalescent Hospital and given command of 1,000 beds
• Jul 1917 – Boarded at this hospital as “medically unfit for service overseas.” Returned to Canada and placed on convalescence until 31 Dec 1917. Invalided from the CEF and ordered returned to the QOR
• On re-organization of the Canadian Militia regiments after World War I, was promoted from Lieutenant to Major and given command of “C” Company, 1st Battalion
• 1926 – Retired from the Regiment