On 9 April 2008 Royal Marine Matthew Croucher was on patrol in Helmand Province when he triggered a trip wire grenade. A highly trained warrior, he instinctively threw himself onto the grenade to save his comrades. However, smart lad, he threw himself backwards onto the booby trap.
He was wearing his body armour, and – crucially – his backpack. The combination saved his life, and he walked away with no more than a nose bleed, some temporary deafness and, in due course, a George Cross.
The explosion attracted some nearby Taliban, and in the ensuing gunfight Marine Croucher was fit and well enough to take out at least one of the enemies. Well, he was a Royal Marine.
Croucher was undoubtedly lucky. The back plate on his body armour probably played a more crucial role in saving his life than his rucksack, but it did show that soldiers do already carry a device that, filled with a sleeping bag and a change of underwear, could save them from a grenade.
I have never met Marine Croucher. I couldn’t pick him out of a police line-up. But I know him. A man like him taught me to field strip an M1 Garand when I was 14. Whether we know it or not, our freedom depends on men and women like him. It’s just that it was more obvious when he offered himself to protect us. -David C. Stolinsky, MD