By Noah Powley, Contributing Writer
Throughout human history, there is one constant: conflict. In 1932, less than two decades after the Treaty of Versailles, yet another battle would erupt; not World War II, however. My personal favorite, the Great Emu War.
In the early to mid-20th century, many nations were not fully industrialized. Australia was among these. As such, it relied heavily on its farmlands; however, another species thrived off of Australia’s farms as well: the emu.
The flightless birds arrived in a flock of 20,000, ravaging the farmlands and leaving chaos. After the farmers proved unable to defend their homes, a national emergency was declared, and the Australian army was called in.
In November of 1932, Maj. G.P.W. Meredith arrived with two other soldiers; they were armed with Lewis guns and 10,000 rounds. They set up an ambush, and when an estimated 1,000 emus arrived, the soldiers opened fire. Almost immediately, the guns jammed, and the emus escaped with only 12 casualties.
After several days of mishaps, a rain delay and another failed ambush, the emus were still at large. Meredith, himself, stated, “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 [exploding bullets] could not stop.”
Over the course of the next two days, a total of 40 emus were killed. Fewer were killed after this and the war raged on into December. There are several accounts of the emus “improving their own understanding of warfare,” too.
The emus kept their distance. The soldiers’ aim was too inaccurate to hit the emus from far away. This, paired with the natural agility of the birds, would prove to be quite troublesome in the days ahead.
While this entire war in itself was ridiculous, one incident truly stands out: The army eventually brought in a truck with a mounted machine gun and, with such advanced weaponry, their success was assumed. As it turns out, the feathered friends played them like a fiddle. The truck attempted to run down a flock of the birds and was somewhat successful. The truck hit the birds, and, as one bird rammed its head into the steering wheel the driver panicked, and the truck crashed.
By the end of 1932, Meredith was recalled, and the army retreated. The emus emerged victorious against all odds. While the emus did, in fact, suffer more casualties than the army, it was a pyrrhic victory; the Australian army lost thousands of rounds of ammunition, crashed a truck and lost its dignity. The emus lost 986 of their brave brothers, which equates to roughly 4 percent of their total numbers. With such a hard-fought victory, the emus truly proved their mettle and would have free reign over Australia for a few more years.
Noah Powley is a contributing writer at The Bona Venture
His email is powleyn15@bonaventure.edu
