War hero grabbed a burning grenade from mud to save his men

THE amazing story of a hero soldier who saved his comrades by groping in the mud for a live grenade and throwing it out of range emerged after his bravery medals were put up for sale.

Lieutenant William Morgan leapt into the trench when a fellow soldier accidentally dropped the explosive during training in the First World War.

Only able to see smoke from the fuse, he got down on his hands and knees to retrieve the grenade from the mud.

The 23-year-old then hurled it over the parapet in the nick of time to “save several men from death or serious injury”.

He was awarded a prestigious Albert Medal for gallantry in the incident near Pas-deCalais in France in February 1916.

Lt Morgan also received the Military Cross for seven nights of reconnaissance “under intense fire” and leading a “daring raid” in which he

Lt Morgan... medals may fetch £12,000 killed one German soldier and captured four others.

His Albert Medal, Military Cross and other campaign medals have been consigned by a private collector for sale on February 28 with auctioneer Dix Noonan Webb, of London. They are tipped to sell for £12,000.

Nimrod Dix, the auctioneers’ deputy chairman, said: “The grenade incident was a superb example of courage in a very scary situation.

“That he went on to win the Military Cross shortly afterwards makes this an extremely rare and unusual group of medals.” Welsh-born Lt Morgan enlisted in the Honourable Artillery Company at the war’s outset. He served on the Western Front, was wounded four times and became a captain in 1917.

After the war, he joined the Indian Army, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He spent his final years in Gloucester and died aged 51 in 1944.