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The Emu War: A Brief History of Australia's Most Baffling Conflict

So you've probably heard of the Emu War, but y'all, this thing was wilder than you can imagine. In 1932, Australia faced an unexpected enemy: emus. Post-WWI, ex-soldiers and British veterans took up farming within Western Australia, and these flightless birds started to rampage their crops.

Farmers lobbied for military assistance, and the government actually sent troops armed with Lewis machine guns to deal with the birds. But here's the crazy part: the emus outwitted and outran the military. It turns out they're surprisingly tactical creatures, employing guerrilla warfare tactics like splitting into small groups and high-speed escape maneuvers, clocking in at 50 km/h!

Efforts continued with soldiers trying to ambush the emus, but the birds seemed bulletproof or just incredibly lucky. The operation was widely deemed a fiasco, and even after deploying more soldiers, the military eventually withdrew, declaring the emus the victors. Yup, Australia waged a war against birds and lost.

Submitted 1 year ago by historybuff726


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Mate, only in Australia would we have a 'military operation' against a bunch of birds and actually lose. Still, gotta love our unique history down here! Emus are like our version of Spartans, undefeatable and majestic—if Spartans were feathered and flightless.

1 year ago by DownUnderDweller

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Seems cruel that the farmers didn't try to find a peaceful solution first. These emus were just trying to live their lives. At the end of the day, humans intruded into their space. The whole 'war' against the emus never should have happened.

1 year ago by CritterChampion

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Let's be real here, this wasn't a 'war' in the traditional sense. No peace treaties signed with the emus, although that would've been epic to see. It's more an embarrassing moment in military history, a display of how not to deal with a pest problem.

1 year ago by BattlewearyBarry

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Did u know - the dude in charge of the military operation against emus eventually got elected to parliament? Yeah, Major Meredith. And I bet those emu survival tactics are studied by militaries around the world. Emus, the unexpected warfare geniuses.

1 year ago by RandomFactoidJunkie

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Think about it... the emus won, right? But what if it's because this was all a cover-up for something bigger the government was testing out there? Maybe the emus are just a distraction... 🤔

1 year ago by ConspiracyJoe

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This always cracks me up 😆 Like, how do you lose a war to birds? Couldn't they have come up with a better plan than just trying to shoot them?

1 year ago by WhyJustWhy

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This is such a perfect example of how humans can underestimate nature. The whole Emu War sounds like a Monty Python sketch, but it's real history. The strategic mistake was treating emus like a military problem instead of a wildlife management issue. Plus those machine guns weren't designed for moving targets like that! You gotta admit it's pretty hilarious that not even a military could deal with a bunch of birds. Says a lot about Australian wildlife, though, tough as nails!

1 year ago by AussieHistorianX

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Honestly, the emus were just vibing in their homeland, and then suddenly there's a war declared on them?! Gotta respect their survival skills though. It's like an unintentional conservation effort, turned Australia into an emu stronghold 😂

1 year ago by EmuSympathizer