Serjeant Deacon Cutterham was wading through an irrigation ditch knee-deep in water on patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when the grenade came flying over a high wall to one side and landed in front of him.
He reached down to grab it and "posted" the grenade into a parallel irrigation channel to get it out of his hand as quickly as possible.
He said the "unbelievable" explosion immediately afterwards ripped out half the bank of the adjoining ditch, and said it would have killed him and probably at least one of his soldiers.
The 28-year-old, from Bristol, said: "I heard the 'ching' of the fly-off lever coming off it. It all happened so fast but so slowly.
"I just went into autopilot. I shouted 'Get down, grenade', ran forward, grabbed it first time and just let go of it.
"I can't believe I didn't lose my fingers because as soon as I let go of it, it exploded. If I had missed it, it would have been game over."
He added: "I'm comfortable around grenades and things like that. I know it sounds crazy but I am. It didn't faze me picking up a grenade."
Sjt Cutterham, of 1st Battalion the Rifles, had just been promoted to the rank of serjeant after his friend, Colour Serjeant Kevin Fortuna, 36, also of 1 Rifles, had been killed by an improvised explosive device the day before.
He is one of two people to be awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, one level down from the Victoria Cross, in the Operational Honours List.
Ten members of the Royal Navy and the Army have been awarded the Military Cross and 25 others were mentioned in dispatches.
Medical Assistant Liam Matthew O'Grady was on his first tour as part of a patrol occupying a checkpoint deep in the Green Zone when insurgents launched a grenade attack causing several casualties.
He was wounded in the face and leg but immediately took control of the care of others who were hurt, administering life-saving treatment to his patrol commander.
Corporal Carl Taylor has also been awarded a Military Cross for his bravery during the incident in March last year, when he ran across open ground to rescue children caught up in a firefight.
Three boys aged between three and seven were trapped between the two sides, crouching to avoid sustained gunfire coming from the nearby bushes, he said.
He ordered his troops to cover him and decided to make a dash for it.
"At the time you don't really think about it. It was just the right thing to do because no one wants to see children get hurt," he said.
Another recipient of the Military Cross, Royal Marine Mark Williams ran to rescue an injured comrade and immediately carried out life-saving first aid despite being under heavy fire.
He then dragged his colleague over 30m to what he believed to be the safety of a compound wall to shield him from further fire, but again came under insurgent fire.
He continued to give first aid before returning to the fight.
"If the shoe was on the other foot and it was me lying out there I have full confidence they would do exactly the same," he said.
Aircraft engineer Michelle Ping, who was mentioned in dispatches, went to the aid of a soldier who had been shot in the head during a six-hour battle with insurgents last July.
According to the citation, Ms Ping, a reservist medic, climbed on to the roof where the man had been hit, "shielding the casualty with her body to administer first aid" - action which "undoubtedly saved his life".
She said: "It was very surreal. It was very quiet. I didn't hear anything. I didn't hear the boys shouting or the helicopter shooting at the enemy position.
"I just noticed the little splash marks next to my head and (remember) thinking 'That was a little bit close'."
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