Matthew Croucher, (born 14 December 1983) is a member of the

Royal Marines Reserve The Royal Marines Reserve (RMR) is the volunteer reserve force used to augment the regular Royal Marines. The RMR consists of some 600 trained ranks distributed among the four units within the UK. About 10 percent of the force are working with ...

and a recipient of the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

, the highest British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

medal for gallantry not in the face of the enemy, for his extreme valour in risking his life to safeguard the lives of his comrades. The award was announced by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

on 23 July 2008, and

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

on 24 July 2008, with a lengthy citation.

Early life

Croucher was born in

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

in the West Midlands in 1983 and attended Lyndon School.

Military career

Prior to joining the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

in November 2000, he was a member of 2030 (Elmdon & Yardley) Squadron

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...

. He served three tours in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and one tour in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. He was a member of

40 Commando 40 Commando RM is a battalion-sized formation of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within UK Commando Force, the principal Commando formation, under the operational command of the Fleet Commander. Their barracks are at Norton Manor ...

from 2002 to 2005 and again from 2007 to 2008. The unit is based at

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, and served in the Commando Reconnaissance Force. Before his Reserve Service, he was a member of the regular Corps of the Royal Marines. On 9 November 2007 Croucher was credited with helping to save the life of a seriously wounded comrade who had been shot in the chest. Due to the intensity of the firefight, the company

medical assistant A medical assistant, also known as a "clinical assistant" or healthcare assistant in the US, is an allied health professional who supports the work of physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other health professionals, usuall ...

was

pinned down In military science, suppressive fire is "Firepower, fire that degrades the performance of an enemy force below the level needed to fulfill its mission". When used to protect exposed friendly troops advancing on the battlefield, it is commonly c ...

and could not help for over 20 minutes, during which time Croucher stabilised the casualty until he could be evacuated. Croucher himself was injured in a road accident during an operation the following week, and had to be returned to the United Kingdom for treatment on a suspected broken leg. After intensive physical therapy, he returned to Afghanistan in a matter of weeks to resume his duties.

George Cross

Croucher was recommended for the award for throwing himself on a Taliban

tripwire A tripwire is a passive triggering mechanism. Typically, a wire or cord is attached to a device for detecting or reacting to physical movement. Military applications Such tripwires may be attached to one or more mines⁠especially fragme ...

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

to save his comrades. He was part of a reconnaissance mission near

Sangin Sangin () is a town in Helmand province of Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 20,000 people. It is located on in the valley of the Helmand River at altitude, to the north-east of Lashkargah. Sangin is notorious as one of the cent ...

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...

on 9 February 2008. Moving through a compound at night he felt a trip-wire against his leg and saw that he had activated a grenade. He threw himself to the ground, and used his

rucksack A backpack, also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, pack, booksack, bookbag, haversack, packsack, or backsack, is in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders; b ...

to pin the grenade to the floor, and tucked his legs up to his body. He was thrown some distance by the explosion, but due to the protection offered by his rucksack and body-armour, suffered only a nose-bleed, perforated ear drums and some disorientation. The pack was ripped from his back by the explosion, and his body armour and helmet were pitted by grenade fragments. Of the other three members of his patrol, the rear man managed to take cover by retreating round the corner of a building; the patrol commander threw himself to ground, and received a superficial face wound from a grenade fragment; and the final team member did not have time to react, and remained on his feet, and would have been within the lethal range of the grenade but for Croucher's action. The explosion breached a large

lithium battery Lithium battery may refer to: * Lithium metal battery, a non-rechargeable battery with lithium as an anode ** Lithium–air battery ** Lithium–iron disulfide battery ** Lithium–sulfur battery ** Nickel–lithium battery ** Rechargeable li ...

which was in Croucher's pack to power the patrol's

electronic countermeasures An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to countermeasure, trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny ...

equipment, causing it to burst into flames. A medic recommended that he be evacuated, but he insisted on continuing as the members of the patrol realised that Taliban fighters would probably come to investigate the explosion, and this would give the marines the opportunity to ambush them; the ambush was successful, and Croucher himself killed a Taliban fighter. Croucher was initially put forward for the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

(VC), the highest decoration for valour in the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

. Had he been awarded the Victoria Cross he would have been the first

Royal Marine The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

to receive the award since 1945 and only the second living British recipient in the 21st century. The

(GC) is awarded for the same level of bravery expected of a VC but is awarded when no enemy is present. Croucher is one of only 12 living recipients of the medal, of which only 406 have been awarded. Croucher was presented with the George Cross by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

at a ceremony in

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

on 30 October 2008.

Civilian career

Croucher is employed in the private security industry by the United Kingdom offices of Pinnacle Risk Management as Managing & Operations Director. He also works out of the offices in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, United Arab Emirates. Croucher received the Freedom of the Borough of

on 16 December 2008.

Works

* ''Bulletproof'',

Century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

, 24 September 2009, . * ''Flash Point'',

Arrow Books Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the follow ...

, 2010, * ''90 Years of Heroes, Royal British Legion 90th Anniversary tribute,'' HarperCollins, 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croucher, Matthew British recipients of the George Cross Royal Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) People from Solihull Royal Marines ranks Royal Navy personnel of the Iraq War 1983 births Living people English autobiographers 20th-century Royal Navy personnel