Book description
AFGHANISTAN, FEBRUARY 2008: in an out-of-control, dangerous country
torn apart by war, littered with Taliban guerrilla forces and
thousands of miles from home, Lance Corporal Matt Croucher, a Royal
Marine with 40 Commando, accidentally activates a grenade whilst on a
covert patrol behind enemy lines.
With only a split second to react, Croucher's instincts kick in and
he throws himself beside the grenade, reasoning that saving the lives
of his three comrades was worth the likelihood of losing his own.
Miraculously, and against all the odds, Croucher survived, and mere
hours later was taking part in a gun battle against local insurgent
fighters, demonstrating a raw, unique courage and devotion to military
duty that would later see him awarded the George Cross - a distinction
bestowed only on those who perform acts of the greatest heroism or of
the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger.
Croucher's George Cross would make him famous around the world. But
his story is much more than just one heroic act in isolation. His is a
life of bullets, blood and loyalty, and of lives saved and lives
taken. From a young marine aged 19, when he was one of the first 200
Allied soldiers to invade Iraq back in 2003 as part of an elite force
of British Marines and US Special Forces, through to his second tour
of duty in 2004, when he suffered a fractured skull following a
roadside bomb attack, only to return to action just a week later, and
then being thrust into hellish Afghanistan, Croucher has seen vicious
fighting, intense gun battles, roadside ambushes, and witnessed the
death and injury of close colleagues on an almost daily basis.
This is his incredible story: a searing, vivid, non-stop account of
one man's heroism and courage under fire, in the most gruelling combat
environment since the Second World War.
LANCE CORPORAL MATT CROUCHER grew up in the Midlands and joined the
Royal Marines aged 16, passing through the legendary 30-week training
programme and into 40 Commando despite a series of injuries. He served
two tours with the Marines in Iraq before transferring into the Royal
Marines Reserves and returning to Iraq as a private security contractor
with the United Nations. He re-joined 40 Commando for the ultimate
challenge of a tour of duty in war-torn Afghanistan in September 2007.
