Article
The Great Emu War of 1932: When Australia's Army Lost to Birds
In late 1932, the Australian Army deployed soldiers armed with Lewis machine guns to wage war on an unlikely enemy: the emu. The campaign ended a month later with 986 confirmed kills, widespread ridicule, and a species that had, for all practical purposes, won. Here's the true story of the so-called "Great Emu War."
Background: Soldier-settlers and a perfect storm
After World War I, the Australian government granted land in Western Australia to discharged veterans under a soldier-settlement scheme.[^1] These farmers were encouraged to increase wheat crops during the Great Depression, with promised subsidies that never fully materialised. By 1932, falling wheat prices had pushed many to the brink.
Into this precarious situation came approximately 20,000 emus. Emus are highly nomadic birds that migrate seasonally from inland regions toward the coast after breeding. The cleared farmland, with its additional water supplies for livestock, proved an ideal habitat.[^1] The emus descended on the marginal farming land around Chandler and Walgoolan, consuming and trampling crops, and leaving gaps in fences through which rabbits could enter and cause further damage.[^2]
The request: Machine guns against birds
A deputation of ex-soldier farmers approached the Minister of Defence, Sir George Pearce. Having served in World War I, they knew the effectiveness of machine guns — and that's what they requested.[^3] Pearce agreed, with conditions: military personnel would operate the guns, the Western Australian government would finance transport, and farmers would provide food, accommodation, and ammunition costs.[^1] Pearce also saw the operation as good target practice, and a cinematographer from Fox Movietone was enlisted to document it — suggesting the government may have also viewed it as a way to be seen helping struggling farmers.[^1]
The "war" begins
The operation was commanded by Major Gwynydd Purves Wynne-Aubrey Meredith of the Royal Australian Artillery's 7th Heavy Battery, with two soldiers — Sergeant S. McMurray and Gunner J. O'Halloran — armed with two Lewis light machine guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition.[^1][^4]
Planned for October, the operation was delayed by rainfall that scattered the emus. On 2 November 1932, the troops deployed to the Campion district.[^1]
First attempt (2–8 November)
On the first day, some 50 emus were sighted. Local settlers tried to herd them into an ambush, but the birds split into small, scattered groups, making them difficult to target. The first machine-gun fusillade was ineffective due to range; a second round killed "a number" of birds.[^1]
On 4 November, Meredith set an ambush near a dam where over 1,000 emus were spotted. The gunners waited until the birds were close — then the gun jammed after killing just 12. The rest scattered.[^4]
Over the following days, Meredith moved south where emus were "reported to be fairly tame," but results remained limited. Army observers noted a disturbing development: "each pack seems to have its own leader now — a big black-plumed bird which stands fully six feet high and keeps watch while his mates carry out their work of destruction and warns them of our approach."[^5]
Meredith tried mounting a Lewis gun on a truck, but the vehicle couldn't keep pace with the birds, and the rough terrain made accurate firing impossible.[^1]
By 8 November, six days in, 2,500 rounds had been fired. Estimates of birds killed ranged from 50 to 500. Meredith's official report noted his men had suffered no casualties — "except for their dignity."[^1]
Ornithologist Dominic Serventy later summarised:
"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."[^6]
On 8 November, with negative press coverage mounting, Minister Pearce withdrew the military.[^3]
Second attempt (13 November – 10 December)
The emu attacks didn't stop. Farmers again requested help, citing hot weather and drought driving thousands of birds onto their land. The Premier of Western Australia, James Mitchell, strongly supported renewal.[^7]
Pearce approved a resumption on 12 November. Meredith returned to the field on 13 November. Over the following weeks, the soldiers killed approximately 100 emus per week.[^1]
Meredith was recalled on 10 December. His final report claimed 986 confirmed kills with 9,860 rounds — exactly 10 rounds per bird — plus an estimated 2,500 wounded birds that died from injuries. Historian Greg Beyer notes this figure "is highly disputed and is likely to be very inflated."[^8]
Aftermath and legacy
Despite the problems, farmers in the region requested military assistance again in 1934, 1943, and 1948 — all refused.[^1] Instead, a bounty system proved far more effective: 57,034 bounties were claimed over six months in 1934.[^3]
Word of the Emu War reached the United Kingdom, where conservationists protested the "extermination of the rare emu."[^9] (The emu is not rare, but the sentiment reflected public sympathy for the birds.)
Exclusion barrier fencing became the preferred long-term solution, keeping emus (and dingoes and rabbits) out of agricultural areas.[^5]
Major Meredith himself offered the most memorable quote of the campaign:
"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."[^5]
Why it matters
The Emu War endures not just as a funny footnote, but as a case study in what happens when military solutions are applied to ecological problems. The emus didn't "win" through superior strategy — they won because their natural behaviour (splitting into small groups, staying alert, being genuinely tough to kill) made industrial-scale culling uneconomical. The operation that was supposed to be straightforward target practice became a humiliating lesson in ecology, guerrilla tactics, and the limits of firepower against a species that evolved to survive in one of the harshest environments on Earth.
Sources
[^1]: Wikipedia, "Emu War." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War [^2]: History Hit, "The Great Emu War: How Flightless Birds Beat the Australian Army." https://www.historyhit.com/the-great-emu-war/ [^3]: Britannica, "Emu War." https://www.britannica.com/topic/Emu-War [^4]: Retrospect Journal, "The Great Emu War." https://retrospectjournal.com/2025/11/16/the-great-emu-war/ [^5]: Wikipedia, quoting Major Meredith and army observers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War [^6]: Serventy, D., quoted in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War [^7]: Wikipedia, citing government records. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War [^8]: Beyer, Greg, quoted in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War [^9]: Wikipedia, citing conservationist protests. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War