The early 20th century saw large plots of land across Australia get transformed from barren fields to reliable farmland, in an effort to support the continent’s growing population. This, however, had an adverse effect, one that led to a rather unusual conflict. The outcome was the Emu War.
Background
When World War One ended in 1918, many discharged veterans in Australia were given land by the government. This was part of an effort to stimulate the economy and, particularly, increase the production of food.
By 1929, many veterans had settled down and began new lives as farmers. However, this was the same year that the Great Depression began. When this global depression reached Australia, the continent saw the price of wheat plummet.
The Australian government attempted to increase the price of wheat by giving incentives to farmers to grow it. This tactic ultimately failed, and the price of wheat continued to drop. However, it did cause much more land to be transformed into reliable farmland.
As the price of wheat bottomed, many farmers turned their attention to livestock instead. New water supplies were created to support the growing number of livestock.
Arrival of the Birds
The combination of farmland and new water supplies led to an ideal habitat that attracted thousands from one large bird species: the emu.
Around 20,000 emus had migrated to Australia and discovered the farmland to be perfect for spending their time. The emus ravaged the fields and destroyed many crops, which caused a devastating effect on Australia’s already-declining economy.
The Australians would need to act quick if they were to save their farmlands, and ultimately their food production.
Government Response
Many Australian farmers brought the emus to the attention of the government, which decided to eradicate the birds. The government appointed Minister of Defense Sir George Pearce to lead the assault. The soldier-settlers who had previously fought in World War One were once again organized, this time to fight emus.
Pearce chose for his men to use machine guns in order to kill the emus. Most of the soldiers were experienced with these guns from the Great War, however machine guns of the early 20th century were still very inaccurate.
Engagement
Yet, these machine guns would have to do. Pearce and his forces began tracking down flocks of emus. Then, once in range, they opened fire on the birds.
In addition to the inaccuracy of their guns, Pearce’s men discovered another problem. The soldiers found that each emu could withstand about ten bullets before dropping dead. Many of the birds would get hit, but would not fall.
After his first attempt to eradicate the birds failed, Australian Major G.P.W. Meredith stated:
“If we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds, it would face any army in the world.”
Getting the emus in range of the machine guns proved to be extremely difficult. When the soldiers attempted to herd the emus into an ambush, the birds would split off into smaller groups and scatter.
Kill rates for the Australian forces were low. No matter how hard the soldiers pushed the birds back, emu attacks on farmlands continued on.
End of the Emu War
Most of the attacks against the emus took place from October to December in 1932. By January 1933, Pearce had given up his initiatives to eradicate the birds.
Pearce believed his efforts to have been victorious, despite the obvious outcome. He reported to the government that he and his men had successfully killed 1,000 emus.
This left roughly 19,000 emus to continue ravaging farmlands and slowing food production.
In 1934, as emu attacks continued on, Australian farmers once again pleaded to the government for intervention. This time, however, the government refused to get involved.
Conclusion
Today, there are around 600,000 emus that live in Australia. So who truly won the Emu War?
“The machine-gunners’ dream 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.”
– Australian ornithologist Dominic Serventy discussing the cleverly nicknamed “Emu War”.
The Australian government no longer considers the emus to be a threat. However, this had not been the same attitude as in the early 1930s.
how?