As the Great Depression ravaged Western Australia in 1932, a drought lured 20,000 emus to feast on its wheat fields. Farmers begged the army to wipe them out. Led by Major Gwynydd Meredith, they called up two Lewis machine guns that fire 600 rounds-per-minute.
But have you seen an emu? These living dinosaurs are six feet tall and 120 pounds--the size of a supermodel and just as hungry. Imagine 20,000 Heidi Klums who could run thirty-miles-an hour, devastating your wheat fields.
In the first skirmish, fifty emus escaped the machine guns with few casualties. Then a thousand birds walked right up to a gunner named O’Halloran. Eyes wide as saucers, he opened fire like a crazed Bond villain. The gun jammed, and the emus glided away like the Road Runner escaping Wile E. Coyote. When the guns worked, those emu hordes were still hard to kill. Lamenting their tough hides, Major Meredith said, “They can face machine-guns with the invulnerability of tanks.” Observers swore the well-fed birds were organized into units, with leaders who uncannily kept them just out of range. Striking a positive note, the major reported his men had suffered “no casualties” thus far.
Desperate for a win, Meredith mounted a machine gun on a truck to keep pace with his avian enemy. But author Richard Cook says he watched helplessly as the emus out-ran it. Outran the truck. The gunner barely held on over the rough terrain, failing to get off a single shot.
One brave emu was sick of running. On impact the bird breached the steering mechanism, crashing the truck into a fence. Writer Tom Carlson says, “She died a hero.” After five weeks of futility, the humans surrendered. The Great Emu War behind them, farmers have struck an uneasy peace with what has become Australia’s national symbol.
I’m Jeff Gentry
Best references:
Richard J. Cook, & Srđan M. Jovanović. (2019). The Emu Strikes Back: An Inquiry into Australia’s Peculiar Military Action of 1932. Romanian Journal of Historical Studies, 2(1), 1–11.
Johnson, M. (2006). ‘Feathered foes’: Soldier settlers and Western Australia’s ‘Emu War’ of 1932. Journal of Australian Studies, 30(88), 147–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/14443050609388083
Dumb Ideas that Changed the World copyright 2025 by Jeff Gentry. All rights reserved.
