A Royal Marine who is to be awarded the George Cross for saving the lives of his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade has spoken of the agonising moments after he set off a Taleban booby trap.

Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher, 24, said he was certain that he was going to die after he triggered the device during a mission in the Helmand region of southern Afghanistan.

He said: “I felt the tripwire hit my shins. You know immediately what that means. All I could do in the moment was shout out, ‘Grenade’ before diving on top of it.”

For five “agonising” seconds he lay on his back, certain he would be killed or seriously injured, before the device went off. He was thrown into the air by the force of the explosion but survived with minor injuries as his rucksack cushioned the blow. “It was incredible. I escaped with only a nose bleed and a headache,” he said.

Lance Corporal Croucher, from Solihull, Warwickshire, had been serving with 40 Commando Royal Marines as a reservist since last autumn. He said that he put himself on the line because he felt guilty for setting off the device.

His rucksack, which included a large battery that “set off like a flare”, was almost completely destroyed.

The three men with him during the incident in February suffered only minor cuts and injuries. They later passed on a citation to their commanding officer.

His parents, Margaret, 55, and Richard, 57, said they were unaware what had happened until their son returned to Britain in April. Mrs Croucher, a teacher, said she received a text message while he was away that read: “Being put forward for a citation, might meet the Queen.”

She said: “Obviously I was very intrigued but we didn’t get the full story until he got back and we read about it in the papers. I am immensely proud but it was a typical act from him. It was not the first time he had put his life at risk.”

Mr Croucher described his son, who has served twice in Iraq and once in Afghanistan, as a lucky man. “You could say he is jammy - we have since been told about a series of other incidents when his life has been on the line.”

Lance Corporal Croucher said he would act the same way again and that there had been “at least 12” occasions when he thought he was going to die while on duty.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, said: “He acted to save his comrades in the almost certain knowledge that he would not himself survive. His exemplary behaviour and supreme heroism are fully deserving of the nation’s highest recognition.”

Lance Corporal Croucher runs a risk-assessment business and is the first reservist to have been awarded the George Cross while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. He previously served in the Royal Marines.

There are only 20 other living recipients of the medal, which, with the Victoria Cross, is the highest honour for gallantry. He was awarded the George Cross because his act of heroism did not occur in the face of the enemy. He will be presented with the medal at Buckingham Palace in the autumn.

— A British soldier was killed by a suspected roadside bomb after his patrol came under fire in Afghanistan. The soldier, from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, attached to 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, died on Tuesday night after an explosion in the Kajaki area of Helmand. He was one of two soldiers injured in the blast - a third soldier had been hurt moments before when a mine went off as the patrol returned fire. Next of kin have been informed.

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