A Royal Marine who threw himself on a hand grenade to save his comrades is to receive the George Cross medal at Buckingham Palace.
By Chris Irvine
Last Updated: 6:56AM GMT 30 Oct 2008
Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher, pictured holding the backpack he was wearing when he jumped on the grenade, will receive the George Cross from the Queen. Photo: PA
L/Cpl Matthew Croucher is only one of a select group of 20 living recipients of the medal, awarded for acts showing the same degree of heroism as the Victoria Cross.
He will receive his award from the Queen on Thursday morning.
L/Cpl Croucher, 24, was part of a company of 40 Commando sent to investigate a suspected Taliban bomb-making factory near the town of Sangin when he set off the trip-wire that unleashed the grenade.
He jumped on the hand grenade, part of a Taliban booby trap, during an operation in Afghanistan earlier this year.
He had less than seven seconds to make up his mind about whether to risk sacrificing his own life to save his friends, and chose to save his colleagues.
Speaking after the incident in February in Helmand province, he said: "It was a case of either having four of us as fatalities or badly wounded or one."
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