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Emu War
Part of The Great Depression
Date 1932 Location Campion, Western Australia Result Decisive Emu Victory
Belligerents
Commonwealth of Australia	Emus
Commanders and leaders
Major Meredith	none
Strength
2 machine guns	20 000 birds
Casualties and losses
10 000 rounds of ammo.	12 birds+

The Emu War, also known as The Great Emu War, was a week-long military operation undertaken in Australia in November 1932 to address public concern over the number of emus said to be running amuck in the Campion district of Western Australia. The emus were responding to a long, hot summer, which caused shortages of food and water. The "war" was conducted under the command of Major Meredith of the Royal Australian Artillery, commanding a force of soldiers armed with two Lewis machine guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition. Over the course of a week or so, only a handful of the estimated 20,000 birds were actually killed. Major Meredith famously compared the emus to Zulus, and claimed that, "if we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds, it would face any army in the world. They could face machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks. They are like Zulus..."

External links

• How we lost the "Emu War"
• Plants & Animals: Emu
• Did You Know Australia Lost a War in 1932 Against an Unarmed Enemy?

• History of Western Australia
• 1932 in Australia
• Wars involving Australia