LONDON – A Royal Marine who dived on a live hand grenade to save his comrades in Afghanistan and escaped with minor wounds will be given Britain's highest award for bravery, the Ministry of Defense said Wednesday.

Lance Cpl. Matthew Croucher – a reservist who runs a risk-assessment company – will receive the George Cross for his actions when leading a group of men through a Taliban compound in February.

Croucher stumbled on a tripwire in the dark and heard a live grenade fall on the ground near him. He realized there was no time to run and threw himself on top of it to protect his comrades from the blast.

“I thought, 'I've set the bloody thing off and I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect the others,'” he told reporters after the award was announced.

Croucher survived after his backpack and body armor absorbed most of the explosion.

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

The George Cross is as high a distinction as the better-known Victoria Cross, which can only be awarded for bravery during direct confrontation with the enemy.

The George Cross is made of silver and hung on a dark-blue ribbon.

Crouch is the first reservist to receive the award since operations in Afghanistan and Iraq began. He will receive the cross from the Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in the autumn.