top of page
Search
Writer's pictureCharlotte Easterling

How Australia Lost The Great Emu War

Post created by Trysten


Despite the exaggerated nature of the writing in this article all of the events are real and the information is accurate as well.


Many of us have been taught about war in history classes or via video documentaries, but there are some periods of conflict that are lost to time. This is not one such instance. In November of 1932, Australia would commence a strategic offensive to significantly reduce the indigenous Emu population. But how did it come to such a confrontation? Why would they ever wage war against what is unofficially recognized to be Australia's national bird?


It all started during the Great Depression, when wheat prices had significantly fallen. Wheat was one of Australia's main exports and there was none to waste during those difficult times. In 1922, emus were a protected species, but they were also classified as vermin because they had developed a taste for the wheat that farmers were cultivating. Emus migrate to the coast from inland Australia after their mating season, leading to approximately 20,000 of the birds invading southwestern farms at that point in time. Unfortunately for the emus, they had no idea that many of the farmers were veterans from World War I who were given the land for their service. 


By 1932, farmers had had enough of the emus' raids. They sought military action and contacted Australia's Minister of Defense at the time, Sir George Pearce. Convinced the operation would be "good target practice" for the soldiers, Pearce sent Major G.P.W. Meredith and two of his men armed with Lewis machine guns into the field. After a period of intense rainfall (perhaps an omen of things to come) the soldiers were able to initiate their first attack on November 2nd, 1932. The soldiers fired on a group of emus and quickly realized that even when faced with a hailstorm of bullets the emus had speed and agility on their side. Averaging 6ft tall, weighing between 90 and 120lbs, and able to run up to 40mph, the emus were well equipped to go toe-to-talon against the military.


But the military was not ready to back down and two days later another barrage of bullets was let loose. Only 10 of 1,000 emus in the area were killed, partially due to one of the machine guns jamming. This time the soldiers took note of the emus' behavior. One of the soldiers reported that "each pack seems to have its own leader now—a big black-plumed bird which stands fully six feet high and keeps watch while his mates carry out their work of destruction and warns them of our approach". The emus' strategy also consisted of the leaders ensuring the majority of their comrades were able to get away before making their own retreat.


The military subsequently devised a plan to mount a machine gun on the back of a truck so that one soldier could drive and chase the emus down while the other shoots and mows the emus down. Unsurprisingly, the emus again came out on top, as the bumpy terrain the truck drove on hindered the gunner's accuracy and the truck was eventually halted by a brave emu managing to get its head stuck in the steering wheel.


On November 8th, the negative media attention the war had garnered led to the Australian House of Representatives to pressure Sir George Pearce to call off the operation and withdraw the troops. With 2,500 rounds of ammunition wasted and only 200 emus killed, the emus had proven their combat capabilities. Ornithologist Dominic Serventy noted that "the Emu command had evidently ordered guerrilla tactics".


Just when the emus thought they had won, the Australian operation recommenced due to continued complaints to Pearce from disgruntled farmers. On November 13th, the soldiers ambushed a large group of emus, reportedly killing about 40 of them. The soldiers would continue to advance on the emus, but by December 2nd they were killing only about 100 a week. On December 10th, Major Meredith was brought back from the field for debriefing and reported killing approximately 986 emus with 9,860 rounds fired. All military action was called off, and bounties on emus were opened to the public in 1934.


In years to come, the military would occasionally receive requests for support for farmers, but the resilience and cunning of the emus had already been cemented in history. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, which is possibly the only thing that Australia did right during this campaign by not directly retaliating against the emus. In 1999, under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation act the emu was again classified as a protected species (potentially out of respect and healthy fear).


And that is the story of how Australia lost The Great Emu War. One force was composed of a birdbrained species believed to be incapable of strategy and the other was the emus.



Videos that inspired the article (Watching in order recommended):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lbO2BnV3Ak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXpu6tbFCsI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62H-CCh18-k

Additional sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/the-great-emu-war-in-which-some-large-flightless-birds-unwittingly-foiled-the-australian-army/

https://www.newbernsj.com/news/20191019/really-true-story-of-great-emu-war

Images used (In order of appearance):

https://outbackcooking.blogspot.com/2013/06/emu-attack.html

https://twitter.com/garius/status/1167470771696033792/photo/1

https://www.smithjournal.com.au/blogs/history/3548-remembering-the-great-emu-war-of-1932

142 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page