Lance Corporal Matt Croucher hurls himself onto Taliban grenade

[thedrifter]

From The Sunday Times <br />
March 30, 2008 <br />
<br />
Lance Corporal Matt Croucher hurls himself onto Taliban grenade <br />
One man’s heroism saved the lives of his patrol – and left him with nothing more than a...

[Gary Treacher]

L/Cpl Crouchers' oppos have recommended him for the Victoria Cross, the highest award for a British Serviceman.

[bigdog43701]

outstanding...and SEMPER FI from an American counterpart.

[LeonardLawrence]

I knew you Brits were tough, but this one has bragging rights written all over it.

Outstanding L/Cpl!:beer:

[thedrifter]

Victoria Cross hope for Marine who leaped on a grenade to save friends
By MATTHEW HICKLEY - More by this author »
Last updated at 01:37am on 31st March 2008

A Royal Marine has been recommended for the Victoria Cross after he threw himself on to an exploding grenade to save the lives of his comrades.

Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher stepped on a tripwire which triggered the grenade during a night raid on a Taliban compound in Afghanistan.

He realised instantly that all four members of his patrol faced being killed by the blast.

nstead of fleeing he deliberately smothered the explosion, twisting on to his back to let his rucksack take the full force.

The explosion hurled him across the compound leaving him stunned, bleeding from the nose and almost deaf, while kit from his shredded backpack was sent flying through the air in flames.

But within minutes L Cpl Croucher, from Birmingham, was on his feet again and demanding to be allowed to continue the patrol. He even helped set an ambush - knowing that the Taliban would come and investigate the blast - and shot dead an armed insurgent during the subsequent firefight.

Stunned by his bravery, the 24-year-old's comrades urged commanders to put him forward for Britain's highest honour for valour on the battlefield, and his citation will be considered by the armed forces honours and awards committee later this year.

If a VC is awarded he will become only the third man to earn it since the Falklands Conflict 26 years ago - and the first surviving recipient from the war in Afghanistan.

The incident happened during a pre- dawn raid last month when Marines from 40 Commando raided a suspected bomb-making factory close to the town of Sangin.

As a team of four crept through the maze of mud-walled homes, L Cpl Croucher's foot brushed the trip-wire. He heard the distinctive click of the grenade's pin and spotted the device at his feet through his night-vision goggles.

His colleagues barely had time to react to his yelled warning, and were still in the open when the grenade went off. By then he had thrown himself on to the grenade, pulling up his legs in the hope of avoiding fatal injuries.

He recalled: 'I thought, "I've set this bloody thing off and I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect the others".

'There have been a few times when they've saved my bacon. I figured that if I could keep my torso and head intact I'd probably survive - although I fully expected to lose a limb.'

L Cpl Croucher told the News of the World: 'All I could hear was a loud ringing and the faint sound of people shouting, "Are you OK? Are you OK?" It took 30 seconds before I realised I was definitely not dead.'

Senior officers stressed that the remarkable incident has been 'one among many' during 40 Commando's six-month tour of duty in Helmand Province.


The unit is due to return to Britain shortly after months of often intense fighting, and will hand over to Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade.

Three years ago Private Johnson Beharry of the 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment received the VC for saving comrades during two ambushes in southern Iraq.

And in 2006 Corporal Bryan Budd, 29, of 3 Para, earned a posthumous VC for storming a Taliban machine gun post after he was injured in an ambush in Afghanistan. He killed several enemy but died in the process.

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/04_01/viccrossDM3003_228x312.jpg

If a VC is awarded he will become only the third man to earn it since the Falklands Conflict 26 years ago

Ellie

[Rob Parry]

Photo of backpack and heroic owner.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/30/nhero130.xml#form