In November 1932, the Australian government declared war on emus. This is not a metaphor. The Royal Australian Artillery deployed soldiers armed with Lewis guns to Western Australia's wheat belt, where 20,000 emus were destroying crops. The operation was expected to be a quick victory. It was not. The emus proved remarkably resilient to machine gun fire, surprisingly tactical in their evasion, and completely unwilling to surrender. After a month of combat, the military withdrew. The emus had won. Australia had lost a war to birds.
Emus are large, flightless birds native to Australia - the second-largest bird on Earth after the ostrich. They stand up to 6 feet tall and can run at 30 miles per hour. They travel in mobs of thousands. And in 1932, approximately 20,000 of them invaded the wheat farms of Western Australia.
The emus were migrating after their breeding season, as they had for millennia. But now farms stood in their path, and wheat was more appealing than native vegetation. The birds trampled fences, devoured crops, and created gaps that let rabbits in to finish what the emus started. Farmers demanded action.
The solution seemed obvious: military force. Farmers petitioned for help, and the government agreed to deploy soldiers. The Royal Australian Artillery assigned Major G.P.W. Meredith and two soldiers, equipped with two Lewis guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition. The plan was to drive the emus toward the guns and mow them down.
Major Meredith was confident. The emus were just birds. His men had machine guns. The operation would be over in days. He was wrong about all of it.
The first engagement occurred on November 2, 1932, near the town of Campion. A mob of about 50 emus was spotted. The soldiers opened fire. The emus scattered. Only a few were killed.
The second engagement was larger. A mob of over 1,000 emus approached the guns. The soldiers waited until the birds were in range, then opened fire. The Lewis guns jammed. The emus dispersed. By the end of the day, the soldiers had fired thousands of rounds and killed approximately 12 emus. The birds had learned to break into small groups, making them harder to target. They had also learned to post sentries.
The campaign continued for weeks, with diminishing returns. The emus simply refused to cooperate with military tactics. They ran from the guns. They scattered under fire. They absorbed bullets without falling. Major Meredith reported that each emu required an average of ten rounds to kill.
After a month, the military had expended 9,860 rounds and killed approximately 986 emus. The operation was costing more in ammunition than the emus were costing in crop damage. On December 10, 1932, the military withdrew. The emus remained in possession of the wheat fields.
The Great Emu War became a national embarrassment. Newspapers mocked the defeat. One politician called the emu 'the enemy's best friend.' The government eventually resorted to a bounty system, paying farmers to kill emus themselves. This proved more effective - farmers killed 57,000 emus over six months.
The emus continued to threaten wheat crops for decades. Farmers eventually built emu-proof fencing - the 'State Barrier Fence' stretches over 700 miles across Western Australia. The military was never deployed against emus again. It remains the only war Australia has lost to indigenous wildlife, a reminder that superior firepower doesn't always win.
The Great Emu War took place in the wheat belt of Western Australia, centered around Campion and Walgoolan (31.5S, 119.5E). Perth Airport (YPPH) is 350km southwest. The terrain is flat agricultural land transitioning to arid scrubland. The State Barrier Fence is visible from altitude as a line across the landscape. Emus remain common in the region. Weather is semi-arid - hot, dry summers, mild winters.