Chris Moon and the Khmer Rouge

10 June 1993

(read time: 3 mins.)

Chris Moon (MBE) was working for the Halo Trust, clearing landmines in Cambodia. On 10 June 1993, he was taken prisoner by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, the most feared and brutal regime in the country's history.  

Among Chris’s extraordinary life experiences, he can lay claim to be the only Westerner to survive imprisonment by the Khmer Rouge.

Chris managed to keep his emotions in check, using his early-life farming experiences, army training, and plenty of guile to take control of a situation stacked heavily against him and his team. 

Forced to drive through hostile territory, Chris faced an impossible choice at a raging river: attempt the crossing and risk being washed away, or refuse and be shot. His solution involved a heavy Russian truck, a Land Rover winch and nerves considerably steadier than those of his terrified driver.

After trekking through the stifling, malaria-infested Cambodian forest for two days, the outlook was not good; the Khmer Rouge commander was planning to shoot the prisoners and burn the vehicles. But then... Chris encountered Mr Clever… 

Meeting the much-feared General Kao Pong (a.k.a. Mr Clever) was the unlikely breakthrough that saved Chris's life.  The general had stayed at his post the day Chris and his team had been brought to the camp because—and you really can't make this up—a voice in the general's head told him something important would happen.

Over intense hours of dialogue, Chris convinced Mr Clever of his neutrality.

Mr Clever's assessment was disarmingly simple: "You're the first one who isn't afraid of me, so I know you're a good person like me."

Risking his own life and defying Pol Pot's orders, Mr Clever released Chris and his team back into the jungle.  There were still many dangers ahead, but they all survived to tell the tale.

I was fortunate enough to talk with Chris about his terrifying experience in Cambodia in the Batting the Breeze—Original Stories podcast episode The Khmer Rouge, Mr Clever and Me.  Chris talked me through the four days in detail in his own self-deprecating style. He also talked about the twist in the story—today, General Kao Pong and Chris are good friends!  Listen in to the podcast to find out how that unlikely partnership materialised.

Halo Trust, Mozambique

FOOTNOTE: Two years later, Chris was engaged in mine clearance in Mozambique when he stood on one of the mines in the process of being cleared.  He lost an arm and a leg.  Chris treated himself on the spot and managed to crawl to find help.  

The surgeon who operated on Chris in South Africa said he had never known anyone survive with so little blood; he couldn’t understand how he survived. 

Check out Chris’s short—and typically self-deprecating—account of surviving the land mine below...

Play the video

Random History Challenge

Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, USA, is famous for its National Memorial, a massive 60-foot-high carving of the heads of four US Presidents directly into the rock face. Work started in 1927 and was completed in 1941. Can you name the four presidents?

Reveal Answer

Answer: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln.

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