After the First World War, Australia settled thousands of veterans on marginal farmland in Western Australia under soldier settlement schemes. By 1932 — deep in the Depression, with wheat prices collapsed — the farmers of the Campion district faced a new enemy: an estimated 20,000 emus migrating inland after breeding season, flattening fences and devouring crops.
The ex-soldiers knew what machine guns could do. A deputation asked the Minister of Defence, Sir George Pearce, for military assistance. Pearce agreed — the birds would make good target practice, and a Fox Movietone cameraman would come along for the publicity.
The campaign
Major G.P.W. Meredith of the Royal Australian Artillery arrived in early November 1932 with two soldiers, two Lewis guns, and 10,000 rounds of ammunition.
The first engagement, on 2 November near Campion, set the tone. A group of about 50 emus was sighted; the birds scattered into small groups and ran, presenting hopeless targets. A later ambush at a dam ended when one gun jammed after killing perhaps a dozen birds. The emus, it turned out, could sprint at close to 50 km/h, absorb multiple bullets, and disperse the instant firing began.
Meredith mounted a gun on a truck. The truck could not keep pace over the rough ground, and the gunner could not fire from the bouncing bed. Meredith noted with professional respect that each mob seemed to have “its own leader” keeping watch while the rest fed.
After six days, roughly 2,500 rounds had been expended for a confirmed toll variously reported between 50 and a few hundred birds. Parliament asked questions; the operation was withdrawn on 8 November, resumed under farmer pressure on 13 November, and finally ended in December. Meredith’s final report claimed 986 confirmed kills for 9,860 rounds — exactly ten rounds per emu.
The birds won
Ornithologist Dominic Serventy delivered the enduring verdict: the emu command had “evidently ordered guerrilla tactics.” A member of the House of Representatives asked whether a medal would be struck for the war; another replied that any medals should go to the emus, who “have won every round.”
The military never returned. The eventual solution was prosaic: a bounty system and, in the 1950s, hundreds of kilometres of exclusion fencing. The emu remains on Australia’s coat of arms — undefeated.