A BOMB disposal expert described as “simply the bravest and most courageous man ever” is set to receive a posthumous George Cross, it was reported last night.

Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, who served with the Royal Logistic Corps from Vauxhall Barracks in Didcot, died near Sangin in Aghanistan’s Helmand province on October 31 last year.

The 30-year-old, who dealt with 64 bombs and found 11 bomb-making centres in his five months in the region before being killed on his last day of duty, is expected to be named in a list of military honours being published on Friday.

The George Cross ranks alongside the Victoria Cross as the country’s highest award for gallantry. It is awarded to military personnel for acts of heroism not in the presence of the enemy.

Tonight, Captain Richard Gardner, the adjutant of 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment in which Staff Sgt Schmid served, said: “It would be fantastic news if he does get it, but nothing’s confirmed yet and we’ll just have to wait until the end of the week.”

The Sunday Telegraph reported that widow Christina Schmid is expected to receive the medal from the Queen later in the year.

Staff Sgt Schmid was described by Lieutenant Colonel Rob Thomson, Commanding Officer of 2 Rifles Battle Group, as “simply the bravest and most courageous man I have ever met”.

Also known as Oz, he was born in Truro and lived in Winchester, Hampshire, with his wife and five-year-old stepson Laird. He was killed while trying to disarm an improvised explosive device (IED) the day before he was due to return to the UK.

Lieutenant Colonel Gareth Bex, commanding officer of the counter-IED task force, said he was a “legend” whose “gallant actions and sacrifice will never be forgotten”.

At his funeral at Truro Cathedral, his widow called on world leaders to do more to protect soldiers serving in the war-torn country.

She said: “Olaf and troops like him join to serve traditional warrior values, to passionately protect the country they love, its ideals and especially their families, communities and each other.”

She said the last 18 months of her husband’s life presented his “toughest, darkest challenges ever” and, although he was known among his colleagues as a joker, she had sometimes been called upon to wipe away his tears.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “We do not discuss operational honours and awards before they have been presented.”

The Didcot-based 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps has mourned four soldiers in recent years.

Captain Daniel Read, 31, died while attempting to defuse a bomb in Helmand province on January 11. He had been wounded in an explosion three months earlier.

Captain Dan Shepherd, 28, died in July last year as he tried to clear a route in the Nad-e-Ali district, while 40-year-old father-of-four Warrant Officer Gary O’Donnell died from blast wounds in September 2008.