The gathering storm of feathered giants
Soldiers, machine guns, and tactical retreats
The aftermath and the ultimate victors
How many soldiers, including the commander, made up the entire military force sent to fight the emus?
Who was the military officer placed in command of the Australian troops during the Emu War?
misslily Dodge army patrols to discover how emus outsmarted the Australian military.
misslily Instead of grouping together, the emus naturally split into small, evasive squads.
What happened when the military tried to ambush 1,000 emus at a dam on November 4, 1932?
misslily The Great Emu War
We brought the Lewis guns to camp (oh yeah!) But those emus made a wild retreat (ran away!)
misslily An attempt to ambush a thousand drinking emus failed when a machine gun jammed.
How did the Australian media react to the military's early failures against the emus?
Why did mounting a machine gun to a truck fail to help the soldiers kill more emus?
Feather armor: Emu feathers are incredibly dense and double-shafted, which helped cushion them against long-range bullets during the conflict.
What natural behavior did the emus display that made them look like they had military tactics?
An automatic firearm designed to rapid-fire ammunition in quick succession. In November 1932, Australian soldiers deployed these weapons against destructive emus in Western Australia.