The Great Emu War: Australia’s Strangest Battle

In the aftermath of World War I, Australia faced not just economic challenges but also a peculiar enemy—one that no military strategist could have anticipated. By 1932, the country was in the grip of the Great Depression, and Western Australian farmers, especially in the wheat-growing regions, were struggling. Despite government promises of financial support, the promised subsidies never materialized. To make matters worse, an unexpected adversary arrived in the form of thousands of emus.

These large, flightless birds, standing over six feet tall, migrated from inland areas to the coast every year after breeding season, in search of food and water. This time, they descended upon the farmlands of the Wheatbelt region, where they found a bounty in the form of ripe wheat fields. For the farmers, who had worked tirelessly to cultivate these crops, the arrival of the emus was devastating. The birds trampled fences, destroying not only the crops but also letting in other pests like rabbits, exacerbating the damage.

The situation soon reached a crisis point, and desperate farmers turned to the government for assistance. In response, a delegation of ex-soldiers, now turned farmers, approached the Minister of Defence, Sir George Pearce. Pearce, perhaps recalling the efficiency of machine guns in the recent war, approved a rather unorthodox plan: he would send the military to wage war on the emus.

Armed with two Lewis machine guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition, a small unit led by Major G.P.W. Meredith was dispatched to the area in November 1932. The mission seemed straightforward: decimate the emu population and protect the farmers’ livelihoods. But what followed was a series of almost comically disastrous encounters.

The first skirmish occurred on November 2, near the small town of Campion. As the soldiers set up their ambush, around 50 emus appeared in the distance. The men opened fire, but the birds, seemingly unperturbed, scattered in all directions. Their unpredictable movements made them nearly impossible to hit. In this first engagement, the machine guns managed to kill only a handful of emus before jamming.

A few days later, the military attempted a more organized offensive. They moved south, where the emus were reportedly more concentrated. This time, they encountered over 1,000 birds. However, despite their numbers, the emus again outmaneuvered the soldiers. Major Meredith later described the birds as having “bulletproof” resilience. Even when hit, many emus would simply keep running. It became apparent that the Lewis guns, designed for human adversaries, were ill-suited to the task.

The emus demonstrated surprising cunning. They would break into smaller groups, making it difficult for the gunners to target them effectively. At one point, the military mounted one of the guns on a truck in an attempt to chase down the birds. However, the rough terrain made the ride so bumpy that accurate shooting was impossible, and the pursuit was abandoned in disarray.

Over the course of a month, the military engagements continued sporadically. By December, it became clear that the operation was a failure. Only around 1,000 emus had been killed out of the estimated 20,000, while nearly 10,000 rounds of ammunition had been expended. The emus had emerged victorious, their numbers hardly dented by the military’s efforts. The media, both in Australia and abroad, mocked the operation, dubbing it “The Great Emu War.”

In the wake of this bizarre campaign, the government withdrew the military and handed the responsibility of managing the emu population back to the farmers. The Emu War became a symbol of the absurd lengths to which desperate people might go, and a testament to the tenacity of nature. The Australian military’s only official defeat at the hands of an avian adversary remains a curious footnote in history.

Despite the failure, the emu problem persisted. In subsequent years, the government resorted to bounty systems and fence constructions to control the population. But the Great Emu War remains a stark reminder of the sometimes comical, sometimes tragic clash between humanity’s ambitions and the natural world.

Source: The Great Emu War, National Museum of Australia.