1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: Hey, it's time for another Saturday classic where we dig 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,600 Speaker 1: into the back catalog and we re share an older episode. 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:10,720 Speaker 1: Uh and today that episode is the Emu War. This 4 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,239 Speaker 1: is one of the topics that we continue to get 5 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: requests for and while it's nice to be able to 6 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 1: answer those emails with a wish that is already granted, 7 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:21,080 Speaker 1: when we send the u r L of that existing episode, 8 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: we thought we would spread the news far and wide 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: that yes, there is an episode about the Emu war. 10 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: I will also say that we know that in Australia 11 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: people say emu as highy just did. However, in the 12 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: United States many people say emu as I just did. Yeah. 13 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: We got a lot of email about this fact when 14 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: this episode originally came out. Yeah, so just enjoy the 15 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: birds and don't get too worried about how we pronounce it. 16 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: We know both are acceptable in different places. And this 17 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: war and I have to use the air quotes was 18 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: an initiative in Australia in the nineteen thirties to control 19 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: the emu population. There were soldiers and guns and hunting. 20 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: It was a big adventure, but ultimately it was a 21 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: really embarrassing affair. So enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed 22 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: in History Class from how Stuff Works dot Com. Hello 23 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and 24 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,119 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Frown and today we have an episode that 25 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: is right from the suggestion boxes from the Twitter user 26 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: Anti Purvis, who asked us if we could please talk 27 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: about the Emu War of UM referenced that as one 28 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: of the most bizarre wildlife management stories. I would like 29 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: to just go ahead and put it out there. Yes, correct, 30 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: that's that's completely accurate. Um. It's also a story that 31 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: needs a little bit of context. H. Yeah. After World 32 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: War One, there were a lot of soldiers in Australia, 33 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: both Australian and British, and they moved to rural parts 34 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: of the country as part of a rural settlement effort 35 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: described as a state scheme. This is quotes a state 36 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: scheme intended to turn swords into plowshares by Murray Johnson 37 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: in the Journal of Australian Studies. So the government purchased 38 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: about ninety thousand hectares of land, uh and much of 39 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: it was not actually very good for farmland. There's there's 40 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: a lot of land in Australia but a lot of 41 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: it does not work for quote, conventional farming very well, 42 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: and that puts a high demand on the parts they 43 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: are going to be the best for farming. So a 44 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: lot of the soldiers wound up in more of the 45 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: marginal areas that weren't actually that great for farming. So 46 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 1: they were already set up to have some challenges in 47 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:44,639 Speaker 1: their farming work. And in particular in the Campion while 48 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,920 Speaker 1: Ghulan district, which is northeast of Perth in Western Australia, 49 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: the population was largely soldier settlers, many of whom were 50 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: growing wheat, and about five thousand of them were trying 51 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: their hand at agricultural work. As part of soldier settlement. 52 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: Many hedge their bed, using their land for mixed farming, 53 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: like they would try to grow wheat and produce wool 54 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: at the same time, and when the price of one 55 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: commodity went down sometimes they could make up the difference 56 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:11,799 Speaker 1: with the other thing that they were working on. So 57 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: in spite of the fact that this a lot of 58 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,639 Speaker 1: this was not really prime farmland, through the nineteen twenties 59 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: things had gone pretty well. They'd had several good seasons 60 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: in a row, but by the time the thirties rolled around, 61 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:26,839 Speaker 1: things started to go south a little bit. They were 62 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: becoming a little strained. Commodity prices were dropping, droughts had 63 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: become really common. There was a lot of problems, a 64 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: lot of problems with rabbit infestation. And even when things 65 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: had been better, sometimes there had already been problems with 66 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: really hard frosts and the rabbits. We will talk about 67 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: the rabbits again in a future episode, because there's a 68 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: whole other story there. And then, of course the Great 69 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: Depression happened UH, and the value for many of Australia's 70 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: goods was really dropping and the deficit was out of control. 71 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: In a hurry, the Australian government, which was under Prime 72 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: Minister James Schoolan at the time, used the country's wheat 73 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: farming as an attempt to prevent the financial disaster that 74 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: was falling upon all of them. UH. And under the 75 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: Grow More Wheat campaign, the government had actually promised a 76 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,799 Speaker 1: price of four shillings per bushel for wheat. The idea 77 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 1: was that the government could use wheat to offset the 78 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: collapsing price of other goods, and people were really tempted 79 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: by this idea of four shillings a bushel. Getting a 80 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,719 Speaker 1: guaranteed price for something was great and unexpected. It was 81 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: a better price than they could really expect other places. 82 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: But unfortunately, after this deal had been promoted to everyone, 83 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: the price of wheat started collapsing too, and the price 84 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: of wheat had already declined just tremendously when the Wheat 85 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: Marketing Bill, which would have actually gotten the money that 86 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: had been promised to the farmers, was voted down in 87 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: the Senate on July So people had been expecting that 88 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: they could grow all this wheat. Ellett guaranteed four shillings 89 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: a bushel, and then the funding essentially fell through when 90 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 1: the bill was voted down. It was a hugely important bill, 91 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,919 Speaker 1: especially in Western Australia where these particular farmers were living. 92 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: It was so important that there were talks of Western 93 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: Australian secession from the rest of Australia as the debate 94 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: was going on. One of the people making this sort 95 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,600 Speaker 1: of threat was Mr H. Gregory of West Australia and 96 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: the House of Representatives, who said that Western Australia was 97 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: going to have way more difficulty than any other Australian 98 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,719 Speaker 1: state if the farmers didn't get their money for their wheat. 99 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: There were other initiatives attempted to try to make good 100 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: on the promise, either by Australia or by the individual states, 101 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 1: but they just could not get off the ground. Another 102 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: bill to pay three shillings per bushal was passed, but 103 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:51,840 Speaker 1: by then the situation was so dire and the country 104 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 1: was having so many fiscal issues that they didn't have 105 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: the money to actually pay it. It was just words 106 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: right that the price of wheat kept falling during the depression, 107 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: and uh the farmers were becoming angrier and angrier and 108 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 1: more frustrated because they were waiting for this higher price 109 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,280 Speaker 1: that the government had promised them while watching the market 110 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: price fall. So they were losing the ability to cut 111 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 1: their losses the longer they waited on the government to 112 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,919 Speaker 1: pay them. At one point, they got so frustrated that 113 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,359 Speaker 1: they even stopped loading their grain in an attempt to 114 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: force the government to pay up. It was sort of 115 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: effectively the same thing as going on strike, but that 116 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:32,479 Speaker 1: didn't work, and finally the Wheat Bounty Act was passed 117 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,040 Speaker 1: on November twenty five, n one, and that paid four 118 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,919 Speaker 1: and a halfpence per bushell on all wheat marketed in 119 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:44,280 Speaker 1: ninety two and other relief measures did follow. These measures, 120 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: unfortunately did not offer that much actual relief. Um. It's 121 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 1: a little hard to compare because Australian money was not 122 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: on the decimal system at the time. Now Australian money 123 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: is on the dollar, but there are twenty shillings in 124 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: a pound and two forty pence in a pound, so 125 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 1: to drop from four shillings to four and a halfpence 126 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: per bushel is incredible. That's a pretty significant um tank 127 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: at the point. So that's the context. You have all 128 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: of these farmers who have been farming all of this wheat. 129 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: They're desperate to be able to sell their wheat for something. 130 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 1: All the government's efforts to be able to pay them 131 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 1: money have pretty much fallen through. They're they're now sort 132 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: of scraping together this tiny, tiny amount probusial. This is 133 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: what's going on when just before the wheat harvest the 134 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: EMUs came. So a little bit of background in case 135 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: you don't know what an EMU is, which I found 136 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: out some people I know who are smart did not, so, 137 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: so so that's where we're spelling this out. That's surprising 138 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: because we actually have EMUs in Georgia that are places 139 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: it's apparently a very hospitable environment for them. So it's 140 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: a large ostrich like flightless bird that's native to Australia. 141 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 1: It's about one and a half meters, which is five 142 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: ft tall and or a hundred pounds, a big flightless bird. Uh. 143 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: Some of some species have been exterminated by settlers in 144 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 1: our extinct extinct. The ones that are left can run 145 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: really fast, they kick when they're cornered, and they like 146 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: to eat fruit, insects and wait. It turns out UM 147 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: they generally migrate kind of westward out of drier areas 148 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: and towards the coast after their breeding season. Rabbit fruit 149 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: Rabbit proof fences that are in parts of Australia that 150 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: were built between nine one and nineteen seven keep them 151 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: away from much of the coast, but it runs sort 152 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 1: of north south and even though they're migrating westward, they're 153 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: also going northwards, so they're pretty much running the same 154 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: direction as the fences going. So there's not a lot 155 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: of protection offered with this fence. UM. It also turns 156 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: out that they're wily, which people were not expecting when 157 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: they concocted this plan. Uh. Eves had been protected under 158 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: the Game Act of eighteen seventy four, but in new 159 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: legislation which went into effect, actually listed them as vermin 160 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: because of their really devastating effect on wheat farms. So 161 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: twenty thousand giant kicking running bird vermin descended upon the 162 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: wheat farms. Uh. It was not good for anyone. Uh. 163 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: They were making their way through farms around Campion and 164 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: while Ghulin, which are east and northeast of Perth, as 165 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:31,959 Speaker 1: we said before, UH, causing huge damage to the wheat farms. 166 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: And some of the soldier settlers were like, we remember 167 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: a very effective weapon from World War One and we're 168 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: gonna go ask if we can get help. So they 169 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: went to Sir George Pierce, who was the Minister of Defense, 170 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: and said, we would like the military's help with this 171 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: EMU problem. That can we have some machine guns league 172 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:54,839 Speaker 1: which we love. But it's like, uh, it's just one 173 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: of those things that seems so extreme. It's almost hard 174 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,679 Speaker 1: to process. And I want to fight a b Let 175 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: me get some heavy artillery. But it really was that 176 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:17,359 Speaker 1: dire at that point. It was people were really desperately 177 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: seeking help. At this point, Um Pierce agreed that he 178 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: was going to send some soldiers. There were some conditions though. 179 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:28,280 Speaker 1: Local defense personnel not civilians, had to be there to 180 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: man the machine guns. There had to be a commanding 181 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,559 Speaker 1: officer present, The State of Western Australia would have to 182 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 1: pay for the troop transport, and the soldier settlers would 183 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:39,720 Speaker 1: have to provide the housing and the AMMO and the 184 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 1: food for the troops. He did all of this without 185 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: informing the Military Board. Colonel Hoade of the first Cavalry 186 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 1: Division in Sydney had also requested on skins with the 187 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:54,000 Speaker 1: hope of using feathers for his light horseman's hat. So 188 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:56,240 Speaker 1: the troops really like they felt like they had put 189 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:58,839 Speaker 1: a plan together that was gonna work. Yes, they thought 190 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: success was imminent, yes and inevitable. They were going to 191 00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:08,240 Speaker 1: just be able to slaughter e moves, retrieve their skins, everybody. Uh. 192 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:12,319 Speaker 1: Major GPW. Meredith was the commander of the seventh Heavy 193 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:17,840 Speaker 1: Battery and he was in charge of this event. Also 194 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:22,200 Speaker 1: to quote Murray Johnson who we referenced earlier, Sergeant McMurray 195 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: and Gunner O'Halloran and their equipment consisting of two Lewis 196 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: machine guns and ten thousand rounds of ammunition. Their task 197 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: force was also joined by a Fox movie tone cinematographer 198 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:37,679 Speaker 1: to record the forthcoming campaign, which suggests that someone in authority, 199 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 1: possibly Pierce, saw direct military activity in the Wheatlands as 200 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 1: useful government propaganda. So we've got the major, the sergeant, 201 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 1: the gunner, and the movie team coming to Western Australia. 202 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: They were in Western Australia already, but coming to this 203 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: part of Western Australia to kill EMUs in film it. 204 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: How could this go anyway than success? Uh? Just for context. 205 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: The Lewis machine gun is a light machine gun. It 206 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: was invented by U S. Colonel Isaac Newton Lewis and 207 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 1: it was used extensively by the British Empire in World 208 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: War One. It has a flat pan magazine on top 209 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: instead of a belt feed as you might imagine. You 210 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: can actually look up YouTube videos of this and see 211 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: what we're talking about. It's kind of fascinating the way 212 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: it feeds through. Yeah, it's a big flat pan of 213 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:27,679 Speaker 1: ammunition that sits on top. Yeah, where the MMO is 214 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 1: actually loaded into the pan, almost like the rays of 215 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:32,000 Speaker 1: the sun. If you were drawing like a childish drawing 216 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 1: of the sun and then you flip it onto the 217 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,560 Speaker 1: the machine gun and it feeds from that pan rather 218 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:40,200 Speaker 1: than we've all seen in films like those long the 219 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,199 Speaker 1: belt feed that. But it doesn't work like that now. 220 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 1: This team arrived in early October, but just after they 221 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:49,959 Speaker 1: got there a rainstorm drove all the EMUs out of 222 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:52,440 Speaker 1: the fields. Were long enough that they said, okay, this 223 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: is actually we're not We're not worth waiting around here. 224 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 1: We're going to go home. Um. When the EMUs came back. 225 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: About a month later, Merritt, Major Mary and his team 226 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,160 Speaker 1: came back as well, and they arrived at the fields 227 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:07,320 Speaker 1: near Campion on November two at about the time, at 228 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: about the same time as I heard of about fifty EMUs. Uh. 229 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:13,640 Speaker 1: The problem was that the EMUs were out of range 230 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 1: of the machine guns, and some soldiers tried to come 231 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 1: and heard the EMUs toward the guns, which was not 232 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,720 Speaker 1: all that effective. They finally did manage to strike a 233 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,280 Speaker 1: few birds as they were fleeing for the cover of 234 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:30,080 Speaker 1: nearby trees. And they actually made a base camp on 235 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:33,160 Speaker 1: the land of a man named Joseph Joyce, and they 236 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: did recon on the surrounding farms for emu activity. Uh. 237 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: They managed to take out about a dozen birds before 238 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:43,120 Speaker 1: deciding to change their tactics from seek out and shoot 239 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 1: to set ambushes near water sources. Right. The ambus strategy 240 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 1: was a little more successful than the seek and shoot strategy, 241 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:54,679 Speaker 1: but but not really by much. November three passed without 242 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,320 Speaker 1: any kind of incident. On November four, about a thousand 243 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: EMUs came out of the trees and approached the ambush directly. 244 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 1: The ambush was set on the walls of a dam, 245 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:08,240 Speaker 1: and the machine gunners opened fire and hit a few 246 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: birds before the machine gun jammed. The settlers who were 247 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:14,720 Speaker 1: assisting with this operation open fire with their rifles, but 248 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: by that point the birds were scattering and running for 249 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,280 Speaker 1: the tree line. They waited for the rest of the 250 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 1: day for the birds to come back to this watering hole. 251 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 1: When they didn't come back, uh, if everybody started to 252 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:28,440 Speaker 1: get the idea that maybe these EMUs were a little 253 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: smarter than they had thought. Yeah, they didn't count on them, 254 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: using the logic of that thing is dangerous, I will 255 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: stay away from it. Let's not go there. Uh. And 256 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: so they moved their operations south and they tried to 257 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 1: mount a Lewis machine gun onto a truck so that 258 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:46,000 Speaker 1: they could fire while driving and hit EMUs that were 259 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 1: on the move, But the EMUs outran them and escaped 260 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: into the trees, and the gunner found the ride so 261 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:53,920 Speaker 1: rough that he really wasn't able to fire the machine 262 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: gun anyway. Now elsewhere, on the same day, a truck 263 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: ran down an EMU hit it, ran out of control 264 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: and destroyed a long length of fence. So the battle 265 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:05,640 Speaker 1: against the EMUs was not really going very well anywhere 266 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 1: that day. By the eighth of November Major Meredith's Meredith's 267 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 1: team had used about a quarter of their ammunition, which 268 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 1: was about rounds, and with that they had killed two us. Uh. 269 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:23,200 Speaker 1: Meredith later called it three hundred, and the soldier settlers 270 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:26,600 Speaker 1: rounded it up to five hundred, maybe to raise their spirits. 271 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: They were the ones paying for the ammo, so the 272 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 1: idea that such a tiny proportion of AMMO was actually 273 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: killing EMUs was a little distressing when they were the 274 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: ones paying for the bullets. And then on November nine, yes, 275 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 1: we're actually got to parliament about what was going on. 276 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: When parliament Member Harold Thornby actually asked Prime Minister Lions 277 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 1: about the farce that was going on in Western Australia. 278 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: That same day, the Secretary of Defense sent a telegram 279 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,760 Speaker 1: ordering the operation to end. Yes, this is an example 280 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 1: of we would rather ask for forgiveness than permission. Did 281 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 1: not work out because, having not asked for permission, they 282 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 1: were ordered to return home. It was not a successful 283 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 1: attempt well, and it most likely actually made things worse, 284 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 1: since the fleeing EMUs than not only had they been 285 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: eating wheat, but now they were trampling crops. So the 286 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 1: soldier settlers, though, continued to ask for aid, and Meredith's 287 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: reports spoke of the extensive damage that the emu's had done. 288 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,400 Speaker 1: He also explained, as best as he could why he 289 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 1: had used so much AMMO on so few birds, And 290 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: these are his words. It must be realized that an 291 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: emu full out can do forty five. Consequently, the target is, 292 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 1: after the first burst, a very rapidly moving one and 293 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 1: is only visible for a very short time. Moreover, the 294 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: emu is an amazingly hard bird to kill outright, and 295 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:52,600 Speaker 1: many mortal, many carrey mortal wounds up to the distance 296 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: of half a mile on actual observation. UH much later 297 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:00,200 Speaker 1: in this campaign, a farmer named A. E. Johnson held 298 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: an EMU with its truck, and that bird had five 299 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:05,680 Speaker 1: bullets in his body which appeared to have been from 300 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: the first onslaught. So this EMU was still alive days 301 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 1: after being shot with multiple rounds. Yeah, it had survived 302 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: and was just carrying around metal while it ran about 303 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 1: its business. People in the government appeared to try to 304 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 1: distance themselves from the idea of a second campaign uh 305 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 1: and the Minister of Defense finally said that no military 306 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:28,640 Speaker 1: personnel can be placed there, but that the state government 307 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 1: could have equipment if it found its own qualified operators. 308 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:34,159 Speaker 1: So they didn't want to waste man hours, but they 309 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,639 Speaker 1: were willing to offer them the materials needed to continue 310 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: trying to fight the EMUs on their own, but there 311 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,640 Speaker 1: were no experience machine gunners in the civil service list, 312 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:47,920 Speaker 1: so it was back to Meredith and team, who were 313 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 1: being lampooned as Major Meredith and his married men. They 314 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: came back to the area and launched a second offensive 315 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: on November thirt and they used Joseph Joyce's property as 316 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:02,639 Speaker 1: their starting point again. They killed about twenty five mus 317 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,520 Speaker 1: on November thirte and about the twenty about twenty more 318 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:09,440 Speaker 1: the day after. At about this time, an animal welfare 319 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:12,359 Speaker 1: officer was sent to oversee the reports that so many 320 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 1: birds were apparently being injured and then continuing to run. 321 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 1: It's not likely that he was able to do that much. 322 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,600 Speaker 1: So he was basically there to try to ensure that 323 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 1: the animals weren't suffering, that they were being hit and killed, 324 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:30,600 Speaker 1: and not needlessly carrying on in an inhumane way. Right 325 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 1: that that was That was his role, but it's unlikely 326 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: that it actually made much of an effect. By November fifteen, 327 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,560 Speaker 1: the birds had started to become release cautious of the 328 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:44,400 Speaker 1: soldiers activities, which I think people weren't quite expecting them 329 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:49,399 Speaker 1: to learn from experience. Um they would stay out of 330 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: range of the machine gun, so they were smarter than 331 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: people thought they were. They were learning range distance and 332 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,040 Speaker 1: where was safe and where wasn't. They had boundaries in 333 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: their head of how closely could get h The team 334 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:04,679 Speaker 1: moved around the area as various farmers would report to 335 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:08,200 Speaker 1: them that they had seen EMUs and had crop damage, 336 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 1: and by December two they were pretty consistently killing uh 337 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:15,919 Speaker 1: by reports about a hundred ems a week. That's what 338 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 1: they were telling people. Brigadier Martin recalled Major Meredith on 339 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:31,160 Speaker 1: December ten. In Martin's reports, he gave an estimated nine 340 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:35,760 Speaker 1: eighty six birds killed and nine thousand, eight hundred sixty 341 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: bullets used. That's a suspicious accounting of birds versus bullets, 342 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:44,399 Speaker 1: and that is just multiplying by ten. Yes, there was 343 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,640 Speaker 1: an ongoing attempt to get the soldier settlers to repay 344 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: the military for that that ammunition. The way that it 345 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,920 Speaker 1: went down is that the Agricultural Bank reimbursed the military 346 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,200 Speaker 1: on the soldier's behalf, and then the bank put off 347 00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:01,120 Speaker 1: asking the soldiers to repay them until thirty three because 348 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: they know times are hard for everybody. Eventually, T. E. Dixon, 349 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: who was the president of the Wheat Growers Union at Campion, 350 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,680 Speaker 1: got a demand for thirty five pounds, and Daniel O'Leary, 351 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: who was an executive member of the while Gulan Wheat 352 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,760 Speaker 1: Growers Union, got a demand for twenty four pounds. O 353 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: Learry eventually got his payment reduced, though to one pound 354 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,919 Speaker 1: fourteen shillings. He didn't want to pay anything encountered with 355 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,400 Speaker 1: an accounting of how much money he had spent personally 356 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,159 Speaker 1: on the effort, including nine pounds for victualling his majesty's 357 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: troops ten pounds for transport, with a further five pounds 358 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 1: for damage to same, and nine hundred pounds for the 359 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: loss of six thousand bushels of wheat valued at three 360 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,320 Speaker 1: shillings per bushel. The whole thing remained suspended, and many 361 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:51,080 Speaker 1: sources don't show that anybody ever actually got paid, that 362 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,920 Speaker 1: no money changed hands for reimbursement. Now, even though this 363 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: is pretty roundly seen as an unsuccessful attempt to curb 364 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: the population of EMUs, Western Australians continued to ask for 365 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 1: military help again in ninety four, nine thirty eight, and 366 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three. The military turned down the request all 367 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:15,639 Speaker 1: three times. The soldier settlers used their own arms to 368 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: fight the EMUs instead. O Leary, who we mentioned a 369 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:22,680 Speaker 1: few minutes ago in nineteen forty three also mentioned getting 370 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: an RSPC a letter about uh their destruction of the 371 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 1: EMUs and how it was cruel. His response was that 372 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:31,680 Speaker 1: they were going to defend their crops and they did 373 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:36,400 Speaker 1: not need anyone's permission, and after World War Two, farmers 374 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 1: were actually issued free ammunition for dealing with vermon Two 375 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,960 Speaker 1: hundred and eighty four thousand, seven hundred four EMUs were 376 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,960 Speaker 1: known to have been killed by farmers between nineteen forty 377 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,360 Speaker 1: five and nineteen sixty so in just fifteen years time, right, 378 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: So it seems like while the firing of machine guns 379 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 1: at herds of EMUs not very successful as an attempt 380 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:01,720 Speaker 1: to control their population, people have been able to do 381 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: a little better with a rifle sort of singling out 382 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 1: one at a time. There are still lots and lots 383 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:13,199 Speaker 1: of EMUs in Australia. Their population now is controlled by 384 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,919 Speaker 1: a bounty. There are payments given for between five thousand 385 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: and forty thousand birds a year in Western Australia. Even 386 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:25,400 Speaker 1: though there are that many being shot, reportedly, their population 387 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,080 Speaker 1: are still pretty healthy. It's sort of like the idea 388 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:31,679 Speaker 1: of if if the bird is really being a pest 389 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,720 Speaker 1: and it's not negatively affecting their overall population to the 390 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 1: point of threatening them to be able to keep them 391 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 1: out of farmlands, then generally people seem to be okay 392 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:46,359 Speaker 1: with the situation. Yeah, it's always, you know, as a 393 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:50,200 Speaker 1: compassionate human being, it's always hard to think about animals 394 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:53,360 Speaker 1: being killed, But this is one of those cases where 395 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:57,200 Speaker 1: the government is really trying to balance the health of 396 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 1: the animal population and the welfare of the human population, 397 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 1: and it's tricky. There's no easy answer really that's going 398 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,639 Speaker 1: to make it everybody happy. So that's where they've landed 399 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: is with bounty. So that that one attempt N two 400 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:16,120 Speaker 1: they fought a battle. They fought a battle, and at 401 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:19,399 Speaker 1: the time things where they were obviously things were hard 402 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:23,160 Speaker 1: in the Great Depression. People really took the opportunity to 403 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,639 Speaker 1: to lampoon the military and the government when that was 404 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,399 Speaker 1: going on. It became a source of entertainment for people, 405 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: which people kind of needed then, and it was it 406 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: was nice for people to have a government target that 407 00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 1: they could laugh at when people felt like the government 408 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:39,800 Speaker 1: was taking a lot of blame for what was going 409 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:44,080 Speaker 1: on in the community at the time. So that's the 410 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: story of the Emy War, the brief and indeed bizarre 411 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:58,200 Speaker 1: wildlife management attempt in Western Australia. Hey, since these episodes 412 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,080 Speaker 1: that were sharing our past class six, we have some 413 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:05,240 Speaker 1: updated information that will supersede the contact stuff you've heard before. 414 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 1: If you want to email us, our email address is 415 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,639 Speaker 1: History Podcast at house to works dot com and you 416 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: can find us across the spectrum of social media as 417 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:16,200 Speaker 1: Missed in History. You can also find us at Missed 418 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 1: in history dot com, and you can visit our parent company, 419 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 1: howset Works at house to works dot com. For more 420 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:30,680 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics, visit how staff 421 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: works dot com.