Daughter of war hero requests street name tribute

Daughter of war hero requests street name tribute

By RYAN COOKE

On July1, 1916, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was ordered out of the trenches and across the fields of Beaumont-Hamel toward the German line.

Trudging through the muck and mud in plain sight, they were gunned down one by one like sitting ducks.

Left to slaughter, only 110 men walked away from the battle. With 91 per cent of the regiment wiped out within 20 minutes, it is regarded as one of the most devastating tragedies in World War I.

One of the lucky men to get out alive was Peter Sampson.

Born in 1893 in Fox Harbour, Sampson was one of the first 500 men to enlist in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. He left his job as a fisherman in Placentia Bay, and was shipped off to join the front in Gallipoli in 1914.

Having served in Gallipoli, the Somme, Flanders, Armentiers and Passchendale, Sampson was an experienced and brave soldier.

It was in Guedecourt on Oct. 12, 1916, however, that he made a name for himself.

Having suffered extensive casualties from German machine gun fire, Sampson led the charge towards the gunners with a sandbag of hand grenades and his bayonet. Despite having been shot in the chest and shoulder, he overtook one of the machine gun posts, killed the crew and scared another post into surrender. His actions that day saved the lives of many of his comrades. For his valiant heroics he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and French Croix de Guerre, two prestigious medals. He was also later handed the British War Medal by King George V.

Now his daughter believes he deserves a local honour.

Betty Alaverdy was just 10 years old when her father died, but she remembers him as a quiet man who didn’t like to speak about the horrors he faced in Europe or seek accolades for his efforts.

However, she believes he has earned the honour of having a street named after him in Grand Falls-Windsor, the town he adopted as his home following the war.

“He was wounded four times throughout the war. Imagine the guts he had,” she said. “He deserves it.”

Jim Molloy, former president of the Grand Falls-Windsor branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, agrees with Alaverdy.

He has been sending letters to the town each year, requesting they name a street after Sampson. Alaverdy herself first applied to obtain the honour for her father nearly 30 years ago.

“He was a soldier’s soldier,” said Malloy. “Veterans will sometimes argue over who deserved what medal, but everybody agrees when it comes to Peter Sampson.”

C. Sydney Frost, former WWI military captain and later President of the Bank of Nova Scotia, also extended his gratitude for Sampson’s service.

“There is no better regiment than the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, and no better soldier in it than Peter Sampson,” Malloy recalls Frost saying.

Sampson was known for his reckless bravery throughout the war. Whenever they were moved to a new sector, he would go out on his own into No Man’s Land and scout out where every German listening post, machine gun nest and sniper was located. He’d pass the information on to the other patrolmen before they’d enter No Man’s Land.

Even through his valiant service throughout the war, Sampson and his family have struggled to get the recognition they deserve when they needed it.

Having moved to Grand Falls-Windsor after the war to work in the mill, Sampson would eventually suffer the repercussions of being wounded four times. His war injuries caused him trouble with his chest and lungs, and he would eventually succumb to illness in 1942.

However, his family was only able to collect a pension after several years of struggling with the military, who said his death was not war-related. They’d later come to realize it was, and pay his family what they were owed.

Now, after nearly 30 years of trying, Alaverdy hopes her father will get one last thing he is owed; the honour of having his name immortalized in the town he raised his family in.

Betty Alaverdy holds up a picture of her father, which she keeps in a folder of records and articles to keep his memory alive. She believes his memory deserves to be preserved in a street name in the town he raised his family in.