Nº 075 · History · 55 sec

When Australia's army lost to emus

In 1932 soldiers with machine guns went out against emus raiding wheat fields. The birds proved hard to kill.

Photo: William Warby · CC BY 2.0 · Original

Your guess

In 1932 soldiers with machine guns went after emus. How did it end?

Wheat in a crisis

20,000emusdescended on the fields of Western Australia

With the Great Depression, farmers in Western Australia's wheatbelt were told to grow more. The promised subsidies never came, and prices fell. Then around 20,000 emus moved across their fields.

Three soldiers, two machine guns

Ex-soldiers among the farmers asked for machine guns. The government sent Major Meredith with two men, two Lewis guns and 10,000 rounds. The farmers were to pay for the ammunition. The operation ran from 2 November to 10 December 1932.

Historical photo: men in hats resting at a waterhole on dry land, more people in the background — Soldiers resting during the operation, 1932.Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Original

"Like tanks"

986emuswere confirmed killed

The birds proved surprisingly hard to kill; the commander compared them to tanks. The press mocked the military, and many people felt sorry for the emus. In the end the operation was abandoned.

In 1932 soldiers with machine guns went after emus. How did it end?

Wheat in a crisis

Three soldiers, two machine guns

"Like tanks"

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The lemming plunge in the film was staged.

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