The Background: Tensions Rise
Following the events of World War I, most veterans were looking for jobs to support their families. Many of them decided to take up wheat farming in western Australia. Unfortunately, the Great Depression happened in 1932, which forced the farmers to increase their wheat crop due to falling prices. The government promised to provide subsidies, though they never got to distributing them. The soldiers-turned-farmers' problems came to peak when 20,000 emus decided to arrive in the middle of October.
Normally, emus migrate inward from the coast post-breeding season. Unfortunately for the farmers, the emus found that the cleared land, livestock water supplies, and crops to be a good habitat. They ventured deeper into farm territory, consuming and spoiling the crops that the farmers had worked so hard to produce, as well as creating holes in their fences that normally would've kept rabbits out, resulting in even more consumed and spoiled crops.
Naturally, this trail of destruction was no unnoticed by the farmers, angry at the loss of their wheat. Each did their own to protect their crops and hold back the birds on their land, but ultimately, a few farmers couldn't defeat thousands of emus. This escalated until finally the farmers went to the military for support and were sent reinforcements in the form of two gunners with Lewis Automatic Machine Guns under the command of Major G.P.W. Meredith of the Royal Australian Artillery.
Normally, emus migrate inward from the coast post-breeding season. Unfortunately for the farmers, the emus found that the cleared land, livestock water supplies, and crops to be a good habitat. They ventured deeper into farm territory, consuming and spoiling the crops that the farmers had worked so hard to produce, as well as creating holes in their fences that normally would've kept rabbits out, resulting in even more consumed and spoiled crops.
Naturally, this trail of destruction was no unnoticed by the farmers, angry at the loss of their wheat. Each did their own to protect their crops and hold back the birds on their land, but ultimately, a few farmers couldn't defeat thousands of emus. This escalated until finally the farmers went to the military for support and were sent reinforcements in the form of two gunners with Lewis Automatic Machine Guns under the command of Major G.P.W. Meredith of the Royal Australian Artillery.