Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher, 24, of 40 Commando shielded his fellow servicemen after he unwittingly triggered a trip wire on a night-time mission in Afghanistan.

He ­miraculously escaped with only severe bruising, his rucksack taking the brunt of the blast.

L/Cpl Croucher, from Birmingham, was ­presented with the medal – the highest honour for ­bravery without the enemy present – at Buckingham Palace.

He said: “It’s a great honour but I don’t ­really think about what I did. When you are in the heat of a gun battle there are always people doing heroic things and they don’t always get picked out. They are just doing their job.”