Great Emu War: How Australia started a war against flightless birds – and lost

On December 10, 1932, Great Depression led Australia to declare war on one of its beloved flightless birds – Emu. It proved to be one of most futile military upsets of all time. Great Emu War of Western Australia as it came to be kwn, was a bizarre expedition where country lost in a full-scale war against birds. re’s a sentence that is both absurd yet unsurprising.

genesis of 1932 war can be traced back nearly two deces before that in 1915 when Australian government launched a soldier settlement program to help World War I veterans find gainful employment as y couldn’t afford to pay m pensions in heights of Great Depression. policy entailed compensating over 5,000 soldiers huge swaths of farmland for cultivating wheat and rearing sheep. scheme saw soldiers settling in western Australia in one of most remote and inhospitable lands – also kwn as Emu country.

Farmlands or Emu country?

Emus began to devastate newly acquired farms in 1922, just 7 years after lands were allocated to veterans. Unable to cope with menace, government quickly reclassified m from “protected species” to “vermin”. Meticulous documentation on issue revealed that by 1932, over 20,000 emus were confirmed to be stomping over farm lands and eating crops grown by soldiers. 

Around same time, Great Depression caused price of agricultural produces to collapse, making farmers’ lives even harder. Lacking eugh ammunition to kill emus, farmers were threatening to abandon lands and demanding government to find more prospective lands and relocate m re.  It was in 1932, on vember 2, that Australian army intervened after immense pressure from farmers unions and or activists. 

Great Emu War of 1932

In first-ever battle of Great Emu War, soldiers reportedly armed with 10,000 rounds of ammunition and Lewis machine guns set out from Perth to launch an open attack, which failed. devastating failure was widely covered by Australian media at time and reason given for it was – birds were too quick and tough to kill. Newspapers constantly printed new war strategies devised by experts who all recounted later that it would take more than a couple of bullets to bring m down. And it was also revealed subsequently that nearly all of Emus escaped attack. 

Before end of vember, Australian military was launching full-blown war day after day against Emus. Soldiers responded to reports every day of more birds flocking re with a “strategy” of ir own to counter attack. Soldiers got closer and shot birds from all directions, casualties were still only a few dozens. army even shifted to guerrilla warfare, but to avail. With every new strategy, emus apted to battle. 

army also ackwledged that “each pack seems to have its leer w – a big black plumed bird which stands fully six feet high and keeps watch while his mates carry out ir work of destruction and warns m of our approach,” Major G.P.W. Meredith of Seventh Heavy Battery of Royal Australian Artillery said, in an interview to an Australian media.  

“If we h a military division with bullet-carrying capacity of se birds it would face any army in world. y can face machine guns with invulnerability of tanks,” Major leing offensive was quoted saying about incident.

Video credits: AP

After 38 days of intense battle, with guns jamming, vehicles breaking down and only a few hundred Emus killed, army was asked to call off Great Emu War on December 10, 1932. Australian government opted inste to provide farmers with ammunition free of cost, as and when y needed it and also promised to build a 200km anti-emu wall, which never fully materialised. y also incentivised farmers by placing bounties on Emus. 

farmers continued killing Emus and collecting ir bounties for many years later. According to Australian Wildlife Protection Council, law on hunting Emus is very clear. Although ir status has been changed to “protected species” y can be culled if y enter private properties and with appropriate gun licenses. And w nearly 90 years later, Veteran soldiers turned-farmers may have h laugh but re’s denying that Emus still won great war against a fully packed Australian army nearly despite all odds stacked against m.

Inputs from AP, Australian Geographic