The time the Australian military lost a war to emus
In 1932, Australia declared war on a population of over 20,000 emus that were destroying wheat crops in Western Australia. The military deployed soldiers armed with Lewis machine guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. However, the flightless birds proved to be highly elusive, scattering into small groups and absorbing bullets without slowing down. After weeks of failed attempts, the military withdrew, leaving the emus victorious.
An Uneasy Collision in the Western Wheatbelt
In the wake of the First World War, the Australian government faced the significant challenge of reintegrating thousands of returning servicemen into civilian life. One primary solution was the Soldier Settlement Scheme, which granted veterans plots of marginal farming land across the country. In the arid interior of Western Australia, particularly around the Campion and Walgoolan districts, these new farmers cleared native bushland to cultivate wheat. When the Great Depression struck in 1929, the economic landscape deteriorated rapidly. Wheat prices plummeted, and government promises of production subsidies went unfulfilled, leaving settlers in dire financial straits.
Compounding the economic disaster was a major ecological clash. The emu, a large flightless bird native to Australia, undertakes regular migrations toward coastal areas after breeding season, searching for food and water. Finding newly cleared wheat fields, irrigated land, and water supply tanks, an estimated 20,000 emus descended upon the Campion farming district in late 1932. The birds consumed crops, trampled seedlings, and broke gaps through state rabbit-proof fences, which allowed rabbits to enter and destroy whatever vegetation remained.
The Decision to Deploy Machine Guns
Faced with the ruin of their livelihoods, a delegation of ex-soldier settlers approached the Minister of Defence, Sir George Pearce. Drawing on their wartime experience, the farmers did not request poison or civilian hunting parties; they asked for machine guns. Pearce readily agreed to provide military assistance. In Pearce's view, the deployment served multiple purposes: it offered target practice for Australian troops, demonstrated government support for struggling veterans, and provided an efficient method to eliminate large numbers of destructive pests.
The operation was assigned to Major G. P. W. Meredith of the Seventh Heavy Battery of the Royal Australian Artillery. Meredith led a small detachment consisting of Sergeant S. McMurray and Gunner J. O'Halloran, equipped with two Lewis automatic machine guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition. The Western Australian government agreed to cover the transport costs, while the local farmers were expected to supply food and accommodation for the soldiers and pay for the expended ammunition.
Tactical Flaws and Avian Guerilla Tactics
The military operation was initially delayed by heavy rains, which scattered the emus over a broader area. Operations officially began in early November 1932 near Campion. When soldiers attempted to herd a group of roughly fifty birds within firing range, the emus reacted in ways the military had not anticipated. Rather than remaining in a cohesive flock, the birds split into small, fast-moving groups, sprinting in all directions at speeds reaching nearly fifty kilometers per hour. The gunners found it virtually impossible to maintain accurate fire on the dispersed, erratic targets.
A few days later, Meredith set an ambush near a local dam where over a thousand emus were seen heading toward water. The gunners waited until the birds were at point-blank range before opening fire. However, after killing only a small number of birds, the Lewis gun jammed. The mass of the flock scattered before the weapon could be cleared. Subsequent attempts to mount a machine gun onto the back of a truck to chase down the birds also failed; the vehicle could not match the speed of the emus across the uneven, stump-ridden terrain, and the bumpy ride made aiming impossible.
Parliamentary Debate and a Second Offensive
News of the military's lack of success quickly spread to eastern cities, prompting mockery in the press and sharp questioning in the Federal Parliament. Labor politicians criticized Pearce, asking whether a medal would be struck for the operation. On November 8, after nearly a week of operations with only an estimated several hundred emus killed and thousands of rounds expended, the military detachment was officially recalled. Meredith noted the remarkable resilience of the birds, observing that individual emus seemed capable of sustaining serious wounds while continuing to run without losing pace.
Following the military's withdrawal, farmers continued to face heavy crop destruction and lobbied Western Australian Premier James Mitchell for renewed intervention. Supported by a report from the Base Commander indicating that the operation had provided useful training, Pearce authorized Meredith to return to the field on November 12. During the second phase of the campaign, the artillerymen maintained a steadier, more systematic rate of fire. By early December, Meredith claimed around 986 confirmed kills, estimating that another 2,500 birds may have died from wounds. Nevertheless, Pearce ordered a final withdrawal on December 10, recognizing that the deployment was unsustainable.
The Practical Solution: Bounties and Fences
While the military operation failed to make a lasting dent in the regional emu population, the threat to wheat crops remained urgent. In subsequent years, the government turned to traditional pest management methods that proved far more effective than heavy artillery. Rather than deploying specialized military personnel, authorities introduced a direct bounty system, offering cash payments for each emu beak turned in by local farmers and licensed hunters.
The economic incentive of the bounty system produced results on a scale the military had never approached. Over a six-month period in 1934 alone, more than 57,000 bounties were claimed in Western Australia. Additionally, the development of sturdier exclusion fencing in the 1950s and 1960s helped prevent large-scale migratory herds from reaching prime agricultural land, ultimately bringing the human-wildlife conflict in the Wheatbelt under control.
Legacy and Historical Perspective
The 1932 campaign entered Australian folklore as the 'Emu War,' an enduring example of bureaucratic overreach and the unexpected challenges of wildlife management. The incident highlighted the limits of industrial weaponry when applied to dynamic ecological problems. Lewis guns, designed for fixed-position trench warfare in Europe, were fundamentally ill-suited for mobile tracking across vast, scrubby terrain against a species evolved for high-speed evasion.
Today, the episode is often viewed through both historical and conservation lenses. The emu is now protected under federal legislation in Australia, recognized as a vital component of native ecosystems. What was viewed in the 1930s purely as an agricultural crisis is now remembered as a notable chapter in Australia's relationship with its native fauna, illustrating the unintended consequences that arise when settlement policies collide with natural migration patterns.
Key takeaways
•The 1932 Emu War began when 20,000 migrating emus devastated wheat crops in Western Australia during the Great Depression.
•The Royal Australian Artillery deployed Lewis machine guns under Major G. P. W. Meredith, but the birds' agility and speed rendered heavy weapons largely ineffective.
•The military withdrew after two campaigns, and the government later managed the emu population using bounties and exclusion fencing.