A Royal Marine who threw himself onto an exploding grenade to save the lives of his patrol has been put forward for the UK's highest military honour.
Lance Corporal Matt Croucher, 24, a reservist from Birmingham, survived because his rucksack and body armour took the force of the blast.
He was part of a reconnaissance troop in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in February, when the incident happened.
The Ministry of Defence said he could be considered for the Victoria Cross.
Bloodied nose
A spokesman said L/Cpl Croucher's comrades had made a citation to their commanding officer and officers were now considering whether to put his name forward for the honour.
L/Cpl Croucher, a member of 40 Commando, had been searching a compound south of Sangin which was suspected as being used for making bombs to attack British and Afghan troops.
When a Taleban booby-trap grenade was tripped, L/Cpl Croucher jumped on to the device to absorb the force of the explosion with his backpack as his comrades dived for cover.
The blast blew his rucksack more than 30ft away but he remarkably suffered only severe shock and a bloodied nose in the incident.
Royal Marine Throws Himself on a Grenade
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#1 Royal Marine Throws Himself on a Grenade
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#2
Let me say he deserves the award in full and I am damn glad he made through okay. Thank God and Modern Technology (and all those working on it) for that armor.
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#5
*Salute*
That man should never again want. He showed courage, selflessness, and care for those around him that any man or god should be damn proud of.
And for that matter, damn glad to see our armor technology is catching up.
That man should never again want. He showed courage, selflessness, and care for those around him that any man or god should be damn proud of.
And for that matter, damn glad to see our armor technology is catching up.
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#6
Makes me wonder what kind of body armor he wore. It protected him from a grenade, at point blank range, so it must be a damn good piece of technology indeed.
IIRC the reason armor was discarded is because 16th century musket can penetrate plate armor, so it became unnecessary weight. Did Corporal Croucher wear a new type of body armor? The kind that can reasonably protect the wearer from grenade explosion? Will we see the return of armor? And how will it change infantry tactics?
Or have I just not been updated on armor technology lately?
IIRC the reason armor was discarded is because 16th century musket can penetrate plate armor, so it became unnecessary weight. Did Corporal Croucher wear a new type of body armor? The kind that can reasonably protect the wearer from grenade explosion? Will we see the return of armor? And how will it change infantry tactics?
Or have I just not been updated on armor technology lately?
Last edited by Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman on Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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#7
Read the article again. He was not only wearing body armour, but he had his backpack between him in the grenade.
It's not that I'm unforgiving, it's that most of the people who wrong me are unrepentant assholes.