Ashcroft campaigns for marine to win VC

Lord Aschcroft, better known in political circles as Lord Cashpoint for his fundraising activities on behalf of the Conservatives, has come out fighting on behalf of the 24-year-old Royal Marine, L/Cpl Matthew Croucher, whose heroic action in Afghanistan saved the lives of three comrades in February. Ashcroft has joined the chorus of those who believe Croucher deserves the Victoria Cross, the country's highest honour for valour.

Croucher's bravery was immense. During a raid on a suspected Taliban bomb-making factory, his foot brushed a tripwire and he spotted a grenade with the pin coming out. With only seconds to make a decision, he threw himself on to the live grenade to save the lives of three comrades. He rolled quickly on to his back hoping his rucksack would take the full force of the blast. It did. Although the blast flung Croucher through the air, he suffered only a bloody nose and temporary deafness.

The reason Ashcroft is convinced that Croucher deserves a medal, is that the incident is similar to one at the Battle of the Somme during WW1 when a 20-year-old serving with the Royal Irish Rifles did almost exactly the same thing and won a VC for it. When a box of hand-grenades slipped into a trench packed with soldiers, two of the grenades lost their pins. Billy McFadzean threw himself onto the grenades to smother the explosion.

McFadzean died instantly - as Croucher might well have done - but because of his selfless action, only one other soldier was slightly hurt. "If he was entitled to the medal then, surely, so too is L/Cpl Croucher," Ashcroft wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.

Ashcroft comes to the debate with a certain amount of expertise: he has written about the history of the VC and after buying his first VC at a Sotheby's auction in 1986, has gone on to assemble the world's largest collection of the medal.