The Battle: Bird War One
"The machine-gunners' dreams 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"
- Dr. Dominic Serventy, Australian Ornithologist
Originally, military involvement in the Emu War was to take place in October of 1932. However a period of severe rainfall scattered the emus, making deploying the squad for hunting emus impractical. By November, the rain had stopped, allowing the military forces to come in and assist the farmers, as well as gather 100 emu skins to use to make feathered hats for the Australian Light Horse troops.
On November 2, the men traveled to the Campion district of Western Australia where 50 emus were sighted. Unfortunately, the birds were out of the guns' range, so the soldiers got some of the local settlers to assist them by herding the emus into an ambush. Despite their sound tactics, the birds ended up splitting into smaller, much harder to target groups. The fact that they were also running reduced the effects of their gunfire. Nevertheless, while the first volley was ineffective due to the range, the second had supposedly defeated "a number" of birds. Later that day, they encountered another small flock, out of which they were allegedly able to kill "perhaps a dozen".
Two days later on the 4th of November, Major Meredith had opted to establish another ambush near a local dam, and this time over 1000 emus were spotted heading towards their location. While it seemed to be a fortuitous occasion for their mission, after killing merely 12 birds at point blank range, the guns jammed, allowing the remainder to scatter and escape harm.
After that disastrous event, Major Meredith decided to move south, where the emus were supposedly more docile than the ones he had previously attempted to hunt down, but even then there was minimal success. At one point, the taskforce assigned to hunt these emus even mounted a gun on a truck, though that too ended in disaster due to the speed not being fast enough and the trail being too bumpy to get off a good shot.
On November 8, the Australian House of Representatives convened to discuss the Emu War. Due to the negative coverage by the media regarding the failed operation, Australia recalled the military personnel and the guns during the same day. The amount of emus slain varies depending on accounts, though the consensus is somewhere around 12-50.
On November 2, the men traveled to the Campion district of Western Australia where 50 emus were sighted. Unfortunately, the birds were out of the guns' range, so the soldiers got some of the local settlers to assist them by herding the emus into an ambush. Despite their sound tactics, the birds ended up splitting into smaller, much harder to target groups. The fact that they were also running reduced the effects of their gunfire. Nevertheless, while the first volley was ineffective due to the range, the second had supposedly defeated "a number" of birds. Later that day, they encountered another small flock, out of which they were allegedly able to kill "perhaps a dozen".
Two days later on the 4th of November, Major Meredith had opted to establish another ambush near a local dam, and this time over 1000 emus were spotted heading towards their location. While it seemed to be a fortuitous occasion for their mission, after killing merely 12 birds at point blank range, the guns jammed, allowing the remainder to scatter and escape harm.
After that disastrous event, Major Meredith decided to move south, where the emus were supposedly more docile than the ones he had previously attempted to hunt down, but even then there was minimal success. At one point, the taskforce assigned to hunt these emus even mounted a gun on a truck, though that too ended in disaster due to the speed not being fast enough and the trail being too bumpy to get off a good shot.
On November 8, the Australian House of Representatives convened to discuss the Emu War. Due to the negative coverage by the media regarding the failed operation, Australia recalled the military personnel and the guns during the same day. The amount of emus slain varies depending on accounts, though the consensus is somewhere around 12-50.