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The Great Emu War of 1932 | A Unique Australian Conflict

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The Great Emu War of Australia sounds like a joke but it was real! Back in 1932 emus were causing chaos in the Western Australia district of Campion. Emus are indigenous to Australia, they are very large birds and they’re flightless (not as scary as cassowaries but still scary to me!). The massive number of emus in the area was causing concern to the locals.

I first heard about “The Great Emu War”, which the Australian army lost, when having a few drinks with friends. One mentioned it and we all laughed at her and told her that she’d fallen for some fake news story, but then she got her phone out, went to the Wikipedia page about it (because Wikipedia is always true right?) and proceeded to tell us all about The Emu War.

I just had to find out more, how have I never heard of this before? This is definitely going to be filed under ‘strange but true’.

What Caused The Great Emu War?

Emus migrate from the coastal regions to inland regions each year for breeding. An estimated 20,000 emus realised that the newly cultivated farmland in Campion was a good place for them to breed and to find food. The farmers were obviously not happy because their wheat crops were being destroyed. The emus also damaged fences which allowed rabbits to get through and to also destroy the crops (The rabbit-proof fence is another story!). Farming was already difficult before the Emus appeared in the area. The Australian Government was not providing the farmers with subsidies which they’d been promised and at the same time wheat prices had been falling.

A group of ex-soldiers who had settled in the area were sent to speak with the Minister of Defence, Sir George Pearce. Unbelievably, in order to solve this problem the military were sent to the region with machine guns! Sir George Pearce was ex-military and the soldiers (now farmers) requested that machine guns be sent to the area. Being ex-military they were all aware of how effective machine guns would be.

emu's
Australian Emu’s – By Eduardo Mariz from Sydney, Australia [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Emu War

On the 2nd of November 1932 the military traveled to Campion, where some 50 emus had been seen. The birds were out of range of the guns, so the locals attempted to herd the emus into an ambush. However the birds split into small groups and ran so that they were difficult targets. The first series of shots fired was ineffective due to how far away the Emus were. A second round of gunfire was able to kill “a number” of birds. Later the same day a small flock was encountered, and “perhaps a dozen” birds were killed.

On the 4th of November Major Meredith had prepared for an ambush near a local dam and over 1,000 emus were spotted heading towards their position. This time they waited until the birds were at point blank range before opening fire. The gun jammed after only 12 birds were killed and the remaining Emu’s scattered before more could be killed.

In the days that followed Major Meredith chose to move further south where the birds were “reported to be fairly tame”. By the 8th of November, only 6 days into the war, 2,500 rounds of ammunition had been fired. Considering so many shots were fired the emu casualties were not great. The number of birds killed is unclear: one account claims just 50 birds, but other accounts range from 200 to 500.

Fortunately for Major Meredith the military had not suffered any casualties at the ‘hand’s’ of the Emus, according to his official report anyway.

the great emu war commander
Emu Commander – By JuggaloICP (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Aftermath

Summarising the 6 days of war, an ornithologist named Dominic Serventy commented:

“The machine-gunners’ dreams of point blank fire into serried masses of Emus were soon dissipated. The Emu command had evidently ordered guerrilla tactics, and its unwieldy army soon split up into innumerable small units that made use of the military equipment uneconomic. A crestfallen field force therefore withdrew from the combat area after about a month.”

On the 8th of November, the Australian House of Representatives discussed the military operation. Following the humiliating negative coverage of the war in the local media, which had claimed that “only a few” emus had died, Sir George Pearce withdrew the military personnel and the guns.

Major Meredith compared the emus to Zulus, and commented on how well they did, even when they were badly wounded.

“If we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds it would face any army in the world…They can face machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks. They are like Zulus whom even dum-dum bullets could not stop.”

– The Emu War – Wikipedia

There was a second attempt to rid the area of Emu’s which was more ‘successful’. There were claims that 986 birds were killed and a further 2500 that died from their injuries. But word of the war on Emu’s had spread and conservationists were not happy. In the years that followed farmers requested assistance from the army again but the government said no.

Defeat

What I find so strange about the whole situation is that it was even considered. I say this partly because the emu is on the Australian Coat of Arms. My assumption would be that if you have an animal on the Coat of Arms, there is at least a little bit of respect there. But seeing as the kangaroo, their other National Symbol, is a popular Aussie food, I really shouldn’t be that surprised.

aussie food - australian coat of arms
Coat of Arms Australia – By Squiresy92 including elements from SodacanOwn work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

The good thing is that the Australian Army were pretty much defeated by the emus! Let’s hope that ‘nuisance wildlife management’ never involves machine guns again! It seems a little unfair that only one side had weapons but the emus certainly put up a good fight.

In the end I think it’s fair to say the Emu’s won – and humiliated the military at the same time.

87 thoughts on “The Great Emu War of 1932 | A Unique Australian Conflict

  1. yes they are hardy & smart;;Over the years I was with Dave, & we were asked to Shoot as many as Possible for the afore mention REASONS,,Distruction:::They could out run a horse- go where no Jeep could get –& beat the best Motor cylist in the SCRUB;;;& come breading time have encounted 4 hens nesting in the ONE SPOT & only ONE Cock bird to do the hatching—-Like a ostrich they can HEAR_SEE_for miles & as smart as..?

    1. Nobody really knows, but it wasn’t very many. All we really know about the men that fought is they were mostly in WWI and they were supplied with weapons by the government and given a general to lead them. It was a pretty unorganized war lol.

  2. We have no respect for the animals on our coat of arms. Have you not noticed we have placed them there to mock them? They are on the emblem because neither of them can walk backwards to leave.
    They are trapped.
    Never to walk backwards.
    Never to leave the coat of arms.

    Advance Australia,
    but leave the vermin behind.

  3. We shall rise from our humble fields and overthrow our totalitarian overlords, all we have to lose are our chains

  4. Emu the greatest thing ALso DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  5. Dear Dave:

    My campaign against the emus commences tomorrow. Blood will be spilled. Nukes will be dropped. Destruction will be wrought.

    The war has begun. This is just the beginning.

    Dave

  6. when i was in high school i met the woman of my dreams. she was tall, tan, blonde, and was built like a greek goddess. i immediately seduced her with my natural charms and we got engaged in the wee hours after graduation. alas, after we got married, we had our honeymoon was in a quaint resort in italy and my newlywed wife was stolen from me. she was swept off of her feet by an emu of great charisma and a sexy accent. she divorced me the next day and remarried shortly after that, taking our five little angels with her and leaving me in a broken down motel with only child support to keep me company. emus destroyed my beautiful suburban family and shattered all of my hopes and dreams. they did not deserve to win this war. death to emus.

    p.s. karen if you are reading this please come back to me;;

  7. once upon a time i met a kid his name was JImmy and we were the best of friends we played fortnite and all sorts of video games. but one tragic day an emu popped out the bushes and kidnapped Jimmy i went to save him but the emu was so rich his house was a maze. I yelled out and Jimmy yelled I’m good bro just help me the emu is making me throw shrimp on the bar-by.
    I yelled out i’m coming but the emu seems to have placed some kind of traps as soon as i realized i was trapped in a net and i was being shipped of to Europe. It took over a year to get back butt i did and i was finally in australia again i found the emu’s house and stopped up the stairs yelling give me Jimmy. but he was there playing fortnite with the emu and he said im so sorry but i’m his friend now i tried to explain what happened but i couldn’t get a chance the emu had more video games than me and more money and a butler. THE END

  8. once upon a time i met a kid his name was dave and we were the best of friends we played fortnite and all sorts of video games. but one tragic day an emu popped out the bushes and kidnapped dave i went to save him but the emu was so rich his house was a maze. I yelled out and dave yelled I’m good bro just help me the emu is making me throw shrimp on the bar-by.
    I yelled out i’m coming but the emu seems to have placed some kind of traps as soon as i realized i was trapped in a net and i was being shipped of to Europe. It took over a year to get back butt i did and i was finally in australia again i found the emu’s house and stopped up the stairs yelling give me dave. but he was there playing fortnite with the emu and he said im so sorry but i’m his friend now i tried to explain what happened but i couldn’t get a chance the emu had more video games than me and more money and a butler. THE END

  9. Dave or Emu

    I reflect on my reflection
    And I ask myself the question
    What’s the right direction, to go
    I don’t know
    Am I a man or am I an Emu
    (Probably named Dave)
    If I’m an Emu then im a very manly Emu
    (Probably named Dave)
    Am I an Emu (Emu) or am I a man (Probably name Dave)
    If I’m a man that makes me an Emu of a man
    (Probably named Dave)
    I look into these eyes
    And I don’t recognize
    The one I see inside
    It’s time for me to decide
    Am I a man or am I an Emu
    (Probably named Dave)
    If I’m an Emu, well I’m a very manly Emu
    (Probably named Dave)
    Am I an Emu (Emu) or am I a man (Probably named Dave)
    If I’m a man that makes me an Emu of a man
    (Probably named Dave)
    Here I go again
    I’m always running out of time
    I think I’ve made up my mind
    Now I understand, who I am
    I’m a man
    I’m an Emu
    I’m an Emu of a man
    I’m a very manly Emu
    I’m an Emu man
    My name is Dave

  10. Whoops I thought it didn’t send and had to write it again. I’m such a silly Dave

  11. humans are bad but emus are the cooler bipedal smart war-winning daves

    dave the emu

    ps humanity is bad much bad i love snakes they are cool way coolar than humans

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