The Great Emu War

From Federation in 1901, Australia’s military story has been written on foreign battlefields: the Boer War, two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq. But in 1932, the only military campaign ever fought on Australian soil unfolded in the wheat belt of Campion, Western Australia.

While the Great Depression crushed farmers, some 20,000 emus descended on their crops. Powerful, flightless, and contemptuous of fences, the birds systematically destroyed livelihoods. Desperate, the government deployed soldiers with machine guns against an enemy that refused to fight like one.

What followed became one of the most peculiar episodes in military history: strategy versus stubborn birds, and an army that discovered its most unconventional opponent. Join Gary Kent as we investigate the Great Emu War, the conflict Australia never expected to fight at home.