Samuel Abrahamson was born in Zarasia, Lithuania.
He immigrated to the city of Hull, England where his first-cousin Morris Abrahamson also lived. He worked as a merchant. During World War 1 he was residing at 93 West Parade, Hull.
At the start of 1917, Samuel volunteered to serve in the Jewish Battalion (the ‘Gdud Ha’Ivri”), in the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, and arrived with them to Palestine in order to help liberate the area from Turkish rule. He fought in the battles on the way to Nablus and the campaign on the banks of the Jordan River.
At the beginning of October, 1918, the battalion undertook an arduous journey from the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem, and Samuel escorted Turkish prisoners on this journey. Many of the soldiers, including Samuel, became ill with malaria. On October 14, 1918 (corresponding to 8 Cheshvan 5678 in the Hebrew calendar), Samuel died of his illness, and was buried at the British War Cemetery on Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem.
In an article published about him in the local Hull paper, it was stated that Samuel was well known amongst the residents of the city and he was loved by all who had known him in business.
His name is memorialised in the Jewish Legion Museum, ‘Beit HaGdudim” in Moshav Avichayil, and also in the Yizkor book at the Jabotinsky Institute, as well as in the book, With the Judeans in the Palestine Campaign written by his commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel John H. Patterson (1922).
Details of the life of Samuel Abrahamson are listed in part on the “Yizkor” website of the Israeli Ministry of Defense. His story was researched and completed in 2018 by the volunteers of “Giving a Face to the Fallen ” organization.