Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher Gc

LANCE CORPORAL MATTHEW CROUCHER GC In May 2007 Lance Corporal att Croucher was on tour Matthew Croucher was with the Royal Marines in mobilised by the Royal Marines MAfghanistan when he was involved in an episode of high Reserve and attached as a drama in 2008 that captured my imagination. Indeed, I was so Reconnaissance Operator and won over by his selfl ess, spur-of- Heavy Weapons specialist to the-moment bravery that I wrote a newspaper article arguing 40 Commando. In September why he should be awarded the that year 40 Commando was Victoria Cross, Britain and the Commonwealth’s most prestigious deployed to Afghanistan. In gallantry award. the latest in his series, Lord Croucher was born in Solihull, near Birmingham, on 14 December 1983. Ashcroft examines how, fi ve The older of two children and the son months later, Lance Corporal of two teachers, he had wanted to be a Royal Marine Commando – and pull Croucher faced down death by on the famous green beret – since he diving on a trip wired grenade was thirteen. After completing the nine-month to save the lives of his men. Royal Marines training course, which Croucher described as “thirty weeks of sheer hell”, he was awarded his green beret, aged just seventeen. In March 2003, Croucher found himself aboard HMS Ark Royal bound for Iraq, with Delta Company Royal Marines. His unit was part of the British Jon Enoch/eyevine spearhead for the invasion of Iraq as part of the Second Gulf War and, TOP: A Royal Marine Commando in action at alongside US Navy Seals, he was one Forward Operating Base Inkerman, to where of the fi rst 200 western troops into Lance Corporal Matt Croucher was deployed Iraq. in September 2007 as part of Operation It was here too, in battle, that the Herrick VII. (© Crown Copyright/MoD 2013) young Marine got his fi rst “kill” before ABOVE: Lance Corporal Matt Croucher GC. seeing plenty more action as the Allies (The Lord Ashcroft Collection) quickly overthrew Saddam Hussein’s Lord Ashcroft’s “Hero of the Month”

Lord Ashcroft.indd 89 16/08/2013 10:27 ABOVE LEFT: The specially adapted fi shing reel and line which Ogden-Smith took with him to Normandy to assist in the beach the Royal Marines’ Reserve. fi ve hours but, in fact, lasted for fi fteen reconnaissance work. Of the mission on New couldYear’s Evebe targeted1943, Major at General a later Logan date. Scott- motion. Ads [his comrade] was This transfer to the Reserve allowed hours, whilst through November, there Bowden CBE, DSO, MC later recalled: “As we him to take up lucrative private security were numerous battles with the enemy. swamBy back01.00 through hours heavy on the surf day towards of the our now directly behind me, just work, where he became part of “The By February 2008, Croucher was based missionrendezvous – 9 point, February I thought 2008 my –companion the men feet away. He was followed by Circuit”, a new world of professional in the Sangin Valley at Forward Operating on[Ogden-Smith] the patrol washad in received trouble, when their I heard fi nal Scottie.” ABOVE and ABOVE RIGHT: Lance Corporal briefihim shouting. ng in which, But when if their I turned mission to help, was he Croucher shouted bodyguards and security guards. Base Robinson – known as “Fob Rob” to only wished me ‘A Happy New Year’. I told Matt Croucher holds up the day sack that compromised, they were ordered to “Grenade! Take cover!” even he used to help smother the blast from the However, after being seriously injured one and all. It was situated at the edge him to, ‘swim you b*****, or we’ll land back on the beach’. However I wished him ‘A Happy grenade on Saturday, 9 February 2008. (The make a fi ghting retreat with “no heroics”. though he knew his comrades in a motorcycle accident back in Britain, of Helmand’s so-called “Green Zone”, New Year’ in return, and we used our infra- Lord Ashcroft Collection) Croucher decided to turn his back on where the Taliban were hiding out in large With full battle kit, including Night Vision barely had time to react. “Ads Gogglesred torches (NVGs), to signal the to our group support then boat, left “The Circuit” to redeploy as a lance numbers on both sides of the Helmand then rendezvoused with the MGB.” (The Lord hit the deck behind me while BELOW: Compounds in the Sangin Valley the base, leaving some fi fteen metres Dave, last in the patrol, darted – images which give an impression of the corporal reservist in the Marines. River. Ashcroft Collection) environment in which Lance Corporal Matt between each man so as not to present a back behind the building However, Croucher had fi rst to Like FOB Inkerman, FOB Robinson was ABOVE RIGHT: On 16 January 1944, HMS Croucher and his colleagues were operating undertake an OPTAG (Operational at the “sharp end” and those based there group target to any hidden Taliban forces. wall for cover,” continued on 9 February 2008. On the right of this X-20, crewed by Lieutenant K.R. Hudspeth Training and Advisory Group) course with knew they would see plenty of action. DSCAs & they Bar RANVR ventured and Sub-Lieutenantout into the night, Croucher. picture is the so-called Green Zone; the they wanted to be close enough not to Helmand river is just out of view to the right. 40 Commando before deployment to Furthermore, it was winter and night-time B. Enzer RNVR, transported Lieutenant “So I thought my best Commander Nigel Willmott DSO DSC RN, (© Crown Copyright/MoD 2013) Helmand province as part of Operation temperatures constantly plunged well lose contact with those in front – but far option was to throw my day enoughMajor Scott-Bowden apart to survive and Sergeant if the Ogden-man in front Herrick VII. By mid-September 2007, he below freezing. Smith across the channel to undertake sack on the grenade and lie brutal regime. Later, from August 2004 found himself at FOB (Forward Operation One day Croucher was informed that steppedOperation on Postage a landmine Able. During or triggered this a on it with my back towards the to February 2005, Croucher returned to booby-trappedmission, which was grenade. intended to last four grenade, hoping my day sack Base) Inkerman in the Sangin Valley. he would be part of a mission involving days, periscope-level reconnaissance of When they reached the enemy would provide some protection. Royal Marine Commandos pictured Iraq serving with 40 Commando as part of Conditions were spartan and it was forty men. He was to be a member of a the shoreline and echo-soundings were TOP: clearing a compound in the Sangin Valley. Operation Telic 4. compound,undertaken during the four-manday time, whilst team at split night in “I threw my day sack off one shoulder (© dangerous too – British servicemen had four-man Commando Reconnaissance Crown Copyright/MoD 2013) In October 2004, he received a dubbed it “FOB Incoming” because it force CTR (Close Target Reconnaissance) half.the two Croucher divers (Scott-Bowden and his comrade and Ogden- checked on to the grenade and at the same time Smith) made their way ashore. fractured skull when a roadside bomb attracted so much Taliban fi re. team tasked with searching a Taliban out a stable block where they found some dropped to the ground. Then, pulling my ABOVE: A jacket which was inside Matt went off during a routine patrol but, by It was a physically and mentally compound. It was intended to be a quick 200kgs of bomb-making fertiliser, along legs up, I tucked my head back so my Croucher’s day sack and which clearly displays with batteries, circuitry and wires. After body armour and helmet would make a the effects of the explosion. (The Lord Ashcroft the end of 2005, Croucher was back in demanding assignment. His fi rst patrol, “in and out job”, gaining intelligence on a Collection) Iraq for a third time, after transferring to for example, had been due to last four or suspected bomb-making factory so that it gathering evidence of the bomb-making shield against the inevitable blast. facilities during their forty-fi ve minute “I counted to about six or seven BELOW: Lance Corporal Matt Croucher’s recce at the compound, the four men seconds and I began to wonder whether medals – which are currently on display in regrouped outside and prepared to return the grenade would ever go bang or not. I the Imperial War Museum. From left to right to FOB Robinson. gritted my teeth and thought about what are the George Cross, the Iraq Medal (with “19 Mar to 28 Apr 2003” clasp), Operational In an interview for my book George might happen. Then it eventually did Service Medal for Afghanistan (with the Cross Heroes, Croucher vividly recalled explode. “Afghanistan” Clasp, which is awarded for the incident that came so close to “I saw a plume of orange sparks go service specifi cally in Afghanistan), and the claiming his life. “Our job that night had Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal. (The shooting to the sky. The next thing I knew Lord Ashcroft Collection) been reconnaissance. We wanted to get I had been fl ung through the air – not in and out with as little noise as possible but with as much evidence as we could gather. But after our stay in the compound I went off at a slight tangent. “I had NVGs but it was still relatively hard to see. Suddenly I felt a tension just below my knee. Then I heard the distinctive noise of a fl y-off lever ejecting from a hand grenade. “I looked down and saw the grenade on the fl oor. I realised that meant I probably had a three to fi ve second delay before the grenade exploded. In the darkness, I had walked through a four-metre tripwire that led to an old pineapple-style Russian grenade. “This had been attached around a stake and driven into the ground. I was, to say the least, a little bit worried and I had to decide, in a split second, what to do. There was nowhere to take cover. Everything seemed to go into slow

Lord Ashcroft.indd 90 16/08/2013 10:27 Lord Ashcroft.indd 91 16/08/2013 10:28 far, only a metre or so. I was lying face after the shoulder strap had been sliced unselfi sh actions and I wrote an article down in the dirt. It was total confusion through by shrapnel. for The Sunday Telegraph on 6 April and I was covered in dust. My ears were Croucher was in no doubt that the 2008, calling for him to be awarded ringing, my head was spinning and I had badly damaged day sack had saved his the VC. Croucher refers to this in his blood coming out of my ears and nose. I life. Although his helmet and body armour book Bulletproof. I wrote: “It is widely checked that my arms and legs were still were peppered with grenade fragments, accepted that to be awarded the Victoria attached and worried about everything his equipment had prevented potentially Cross a serviceman needs to show such else after that. lethal shards of metal from penetrating astonishing courage that nine times out “I immediately smelt the cordite from his body and, like his comrades, he had of ten he would die carrying out the the grenade – there was a distinctive suffered only relatively minor injuries. action. If that is the case, Lance Corporal burning smell. I wasn’t sure who it was, Later on, the back-up team arrested Matthew Croucher is absolutely entitled but I could feel someone frantically seven suspected Taliban who had to be awarded Britain’s most prestigious patting me down. Later Scottie and returned to the compound. They also bravery award.” Dave told me they had run their hands retrieved Croucher’s day sack, which had However, the authorities ruled that under my armour to check for injuries, been severely damaged in the explosion. Croucher should instead receive the GC searching for holes in my combats that Miraculously, a thorough check-up back – on the grounds that he was not “in the would signify a shrapnel entry point. My at the base revealed that face of the enemy” when the incident face and eyes were caked in dust Croucher had nothing occurred – and his gallantry award was and I struggled to breathe. But worse that mild announced on 24 July 2008. Admiral Sir they [Ads, Dave and Scottie] concussion, Jonathon Band, the First Sea Lord and helped me up and I found perforated Chief of the Naval Staff, said of Croucher: my feet.” ear drums, “His action epitomises the ethos of As he surveyed and cuts and selfl ess devotion to duty, courage and the scene in the near bruises. comradeship in the Marines.” darkness, Croucher I was Croucher was presented with his award could see that his day deeply by the Queen on 30 October 2008, sack had been blown fully impressed by when his citation was read out. He was ten metres away from him Croucher’s accompanied by his parents, sister and his maternal grandparents. His citation ended: “Lance Corporal Croucher is an exceptional and inspirational individual. His magnifi cent displays of selfl essness and gallantry are truly humbling and are the embodiment of the fi nest traditions of the service.” After the 2007-8 tour, Croucher transferred back into the Royal Marines’ Reserve and helped set up a security company, Pinnacle Risk Management, that now operates all around the world. His remarkable GC, along with his day sack, are on display in the Imperial War Museum in London. I

GEORGE CROSS HEROES Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is a Conservative peer, businessman, philanthropist and author. The story behind Matt Croucher’s GC appears in his book George Cross Heroes. For more information visit: www. georgecrossheroes.com Lord Ashcroft’s VC and GC collection is on public display at the Imperial War Museum. For more information visit: www.iwm.org.uk/heroes For more information on Lord Ashcroft’s work, visit: www.lordashcroft.com. Follow him on Twitter: @LordAshcroft.

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