War on animals in Australia. The strangest wars. We need machine guns

A fact that sounds equally absurd and unexpected: in 1932, Australia declared war on emus. How did this confrontation end?

This is not an ancient April Fool's joke; there are videos of the real-life Great Emu War in Western Australia, which involved soldiers with machine guns fighting the flightless birds.

What did these birds do to become participants in the fierce resistance?

Hard times began for farmers in Western Australia when the emu population increased by an order of magnitude during the Great Depression. During the breeding season, about 20,000 emus migrated inland, eating grain crops along the way, thus ruining farmers. Farmers have conveyed their grievances to the government. A request from World War I veteran MPs called for the use of machine guns to kill pests.

2 artillery officers and 2 soldiers with Lewis machine guns, with 10,000 rounds of ammunition, were equipped for the war.

The fighting began in November 1932 - the last month of the Australian spring. Opening fire on groups of emus and shooting cartridges from a long distance, the military achieved only a few dozen hits. Next, ambush tactics were used, when fire was opened from hundreds of meters. At the very first shots, the emus scattered in all directions, making machine gun fire pointless.

The next day of fighting, a flock of about a thousand birds was ambushed near a watering hole. And again the birds ran away, taking advantage of the jammed machine gun.

The Lewis machine gun is a British light machine gun from the First World War. It was created in 1913.

Major Meredith, the detachment commander, admiring the speed (up to 50 km/h) and maneuverability of the emu, told the press: “If we (the Australians) had a division of such birds capable of carrying weapons, they could be pitted against any army in the world. They stand up to machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks. They are like Zulus..."
The birds, in addition to their interest in surviving, also had long-standing grievances against their opponents. Australian soldiers wore a traditional wide-brimmed hat, which was decorated with a plume of emu feathers.

Photo portrait of an artilleryman in a hat with feathers.

Less than a week later, the military detachment was withdrawn. According to the soldiers, 986 birds were killed and 9,860 rounds of ammunition were used.

In general, the Great Emu War can be characterized as follows: the machine gunners' dreams of concentrated fire on enemy concentrations dissipated. The emu command began to employ guerrilla tactics, their large army disintegrating into countless small units, making the use of military equipment and machine guns impractical. The dispirited Australian soldiers retreated from the battlefield a month later.

Despite further attempts by the Australian government to control the nuisance birds, emus emerged victorious and still live in abundance around Perth.

Lichar v. France. In 1883, the small Spanish village of Lijar considered it outrageous that the Spanish king had been insulted during his stay in France. The mayor of Lihar, with the support of three hundred inhabitants, declared war on France on behalf of his village. In the almost hundred-year history of the “conflict,” not a single shot was fired.

The War of the Oak Bucket took place in medieval Italy in 1325. The two cities, Bologna and Modena, had been at enmity for a long time, but the theft of a brand new oak bucket from the city well, committed by a deserter from Bologna to Modena, was the last straw. The war was marked by the only battle in which the Bolognese lost and were left without a bucket.

The Paraguayan War from 1864 to 1870 went down in history as one of the bloodiest wars due to the ambitions of the ruler. The President of the Republic, Francisco Solano Lopez, was a great admirer of Napoleon, although he did not have high skills in warfare. Paraguay declared war on Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay - and suffered a terrible defeat, losing 300 thousand people, about 90% of the male population.

The “War of the Stray Dog” was nicknamed the 1925 conflict between Greece and Bulgaria, who had previously fought against each other during the First World War. According to rumors, a Greek soldier chased a stray dog ​​he had fed and was shot dead by Bulgarian border guards. In response, Greece sent troops to Bulgaria, and Bulgaria filed a complaint against it to the League of Nations.

The Aroostook War took place between the United States and Britain in 1838–1839, during a dispute between the two countries over the border between the United States and Canada. Direct armed conflict was avoided thanks to diplomacy, but several soldiers died from disease and accidents.

The "Pig War" was another confrontation between the United States and the British Empire that took place in 1859 in the disputed San Juan Islands. A British farmer shot and killed a pig that belonged to an Irishman living on American soil. The heated dispute almost turned into a military conflict, but everything was resolved peacefully.

The Three Hundred and Thirty-Five Years' War is officially recognized as one of the longest and least bloody wars in human history. It “passed” between the Netherlands and the Scilly Archipelago as part of Great Britain, began in 1651 and ended in 1986. It’s just that at some point the fact of declaring war was completely forgotten, coming to its senses three centuries later.

The "football war" broke out for four days in 1969 between El Salvador and Honduras, following the defeat of the Honduras team during the qualifying matches for the World Cup. Losses on both sides amounted to about five thousand people; the peace treaty was signed only ten years later.

The War of Jenkins' Ear took place between England and Spain from 1739 to 1742. Formally, it began because of the severed ear of the English captain Robert Jenkins as a symbol of the aggression of Spanish soldiers against English sailors. The ear was carefully preserved in alcohol and presented in parliament.

The emu war that occurred in Australia in 1932 claims to be the most stupid military operation of all. The emus were eating the crops of Australian farmers, and they called for help from soldiers with machine guns. We managed to shoot several hundred birds... out of twenty thousand. The problem remained unresolved, and farmers had to come to terms.

Wars over stray dogs, pigs and emus, oak buckets and football matches. Wars without a single drop of blood and with thousands of losses. What can we do, war is in the blood of humanity...

Background

After the First World War, large numbers of Australian ex-servicemen - along with a number of British veterans who had resettled on the continent - began farming in Western Australia, often in remote areas, establishing agricultural farms and growing wheat. With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, these farmers were asked by the Australian government to increase their wheat acreage and were given a government promise - ultimately unfulfilled - to help them with subsidies. Despite recommendations and promises of subsidies, wheat prices continued to fall, and by October 1932 the issue became particularly acute; Farmers began preparing for harvest while simultaneously threatening to withhold supplies of wheat.

The challenges facing farmers have increased further with the migration of some 20,000 emus into the region. Emus regularly migrate after the breeding season, heading towards the coast from the Australian interior. With cleared land there and an additional water supply created to supply livestock to Western Australian farmers, emus regarded the farmland as good habitat and began raiding farmland - particularly farmland in the outlying lands around Campion and Walgulan. The emus ate and damaged crops, also leaving large holes in the fences they broke, through which rabbits could enter, aggravating the loss of crops.

Farmers raised their concerns about the danger of bird raids ravaging their fields, and a deputation of ex-soldiers was sent to meet the Secretary of Defense, Sir George Pearce. Soldier settlers who had served in the First World War were well aware of the effectiveness of machine guns and asked for the weapon to be used in the fight against emus. The minister readily agreed, albeit with a number of conditions. Thus, the weapons to be used by the military and all their transport had to be financed by the Western Australian government, just as farmers had to provide their own food, accommodation, and payment for ammunition. Pearce also supported the involvement of the army on the grounds that shooting birds would be good shooting practice, although he also argued that some in the government may have seen it as a way to draw attention to Western Australian farmers to help them, and to To achieve this goal, a cameraman from the Fox Movietone studio was even invited to film this event.

War

Sir George Pierce, who ordered soldiers to destroy emus. He was later called "Minister of Emu War" in Parliament.

“Combat operations” were supposed to begin in October 1932. The "war" was fought under the command of Major Meredith of the 7th Heavy Battery, Royal Australian Artillery: Meredith commanded two men armed with two Lewis machine guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition. The operation, however, was delayed due to a period of rainfall, which caused the emus to disperse over a wider area. The rain stopped on November 2, 1932, at which point troops were deployed with orders to help farmers and, according to one newspaper report, to collect 100 emu skins, as their feathers could be used to make hats for the Australian Light Horse. .

First attack

On November 2, soldiers arrived at Campion, where about 50 emus were spotted. Since the birds were out of machine gun range, local settlers attempted to lure the flock of emus into an ambush, but the birds split into small groups and ran in such a way that they were difficult to target. However, while the first burst of machine gun fire was ineffective due to the long range of the targets, the second burst of shots was successful in killing "a number" of birds. Later that day, a small flock of emus was discovered and possibly dozens of birds were killed.

The next important event was November 4th. Meredith set up an ambush near a local dam and over 1,000 emus were spotted heading towards his position. This time the gunners waited for the birds to get close before opening fire. The machine gun, however, broke down after killing only twelve birds, and the rest fled before they could be killed. No other birds were seen that day.

In the following days, Meredith decided to move further south, where the birds "appeared to be quite tame", but had only limited success despite his efforts. At one stage, Meredith even went so far as to mount one of the machine guns on a truck, a move that proved ineffective as the truck was unable to keep up with the birds and the ride was so rough that the gunner was unable to fire a single shot. . By November 8, six days after the first “battle,” 2,500 rounds of ammunition had been used up. The number of birds killed is unknown: one report reports only 50 birds, but other reports place numbers ranging from 200 to 500, the latter figure being reported by settlers. Meredith's official report stated, among other things, that his men suffered no casualties.

On November 8, MPs in the Australian House of Representatives discussed the operation. Following negative local media coverage, which also reported that "only a few" emus had been killed, Pierce withdrew troops and machine guns effective November 8th.

After the soldiers were withdrawn, Major Meredith compared the emus to the Zulu and commented on the amazing maneuverability of the emus, even when severely wounded.

Second attack

After the military left, emu attacks on wheat fields continued. Farmers have again asked for help, citing heat and drought which has led to thousands of emus invading their farms. James Mitchell, the Premier of Western Australia, organized strong support for the renewal of military aid. In addition, the operation commander's report indicated that approximately 300 emus were killed at the start of the operation.

Acting on requests from farmers and a report from the commander of the operation, on November 12, the Minister of Defense assigned an armed force to renew emu eradication efforts. He defended the decision in the Senate, explaining why soldiers were needed to combat the serious agricultural threat posed by large numbers of emus. Although the military agreed to provide the weapons to the Western Australian government in the hope that they would find the right men to use them, Meredith was again sent to the "battlefield" due to the apparent lack of experienced machine gunners in the state.

Taking over the "battle" on November 13, 1932, the military had some success during the first two days, killing approximately 40 emus. The third day, 15 November, was much less successful, but by 2 December the guns were killing about 100 emus a week. Meredith was recalled on December 10, and in his report he stated that there were 986 kills with 9,860 rounds of shots, meaning 10 bullets were required to kill each ostrich. Additionally, Meredith claimed that 2,500 injured birds died as a result of the injuries they received.

Consequences

The mass extermination of emus did not solve the problems with them. Farmers in the region again asked for military aid in 1934, 1943 and 1948, but their requests were rejected by the government. Instead, a system of “incentives” for self-killing ostriches was activated, which appeared in 1923 and was developed in the forties, and it turned out to be effective: 57,034 “incentives” were received over six months in 1934.

Notes

Links

• Attack on Emus, The Argus(12 November 1932).

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

War is a serious matter, led by mysterious leaders who give orders to soldiers with tough morals, ready to sacrifice everything for the glory of their country. Sometimes things don't go exactly as planned. Between the thunderous sounds of artillery, the piercing whistle of enemy bullets and the screams of frightened comrades, logic may simply stop working. This is one of the chaotic situations that any of us can find ourselves in. It sometimes provokes even the most seemingly rational individuals to lose control over themselves and do the unthinkable. When a person's true nature is revealed, strange, funny things begin to happen, and in such situations the "seriousness" of war is completely forgotten.

Besides the absurd antics that occur on the battlefield, often the very reason for war is no less absurd. Just think, we almost launched a nuclear weapon just because someone confused a flock of geese on the radar with flying missiles. Wars often start for reasons that are absolutely crazy.

This article is devoted to ridiculous stories about military mediocrity, as a result of which many people died. They make us think about the meaninglessness of war as an integral part of the self-destructive nature of humanity.

1. "Vase"

The year was 1626. Sweden waged a fierce war with Poland and Lithuania. The Swedish king decided to build the largest and most well-armed ship imaginable, and named it "Vase". He managed to swim an "amazing" distance of 1,300 meters before he flipped on his side and sank to the bottom of the ocean. The Vaza sank for several reasons, one of which was the king’s desire to equip it with a huge number of heavy guns.

2. The Emu War (1932)

In 1932, there was an emu invasion in Western Australia: they ate crops, harassed farmers and were generally “one big misunderstanding.” The Australian armed forces were sent to fight them.

The emus used guerrilla warfare tactics, so the soldiers could not figure out their positions. By the sixth day of intense fighting, the Australian forces had managed to kill only 50 birds, having expended 2,500 rounds of ammunition. After a month of fighting, the emus forced the enemies to retreat to replenish their supplies of weapons and food.

An Australian commander, driven mad by the emu's ruthless tactics, declared that the birds were bulletproof and even compared them to tanks. After the soldiers replenished their supplies, they returned to the battlefield. This time the emu forces suffered heavy casualties, but there were too many of them, so the Australian army eventually decided to surrender and make peace.

3. The war between France and Brazil over lobsters (1961-1963)

France was ready to do anything to get tasty, high-quality lobsters, even to go to war with Brazil. You see, France was allowed to fish off the coast of Brazil. The key word here is “fish”. Then the French tried to prove to everyone that lobsters are also fish. Brazilian oceanographers insisted that "lobsters cling to the ocean floor and are therefore part of the continental shelf." The situation became critical when French fishing boats that were stealing lobsters from Brazilian fishermen refused to leave the coastal area. Then Brazil decided to use the navy. France, in turn, put its navy on alert. During the confrontation, Brazil managed to capture one French ship and force the rest to retreat.

4. Cod Wars

Some wars are fought over resources, others to defend pride, and others over cod. Iceland and England have been fighting over fishing rights since the 1400s. However, the first official "Cod War" began in 1958.

It was a real battle between David and Goliath. Britain deployed its entire Royal Navy, while Iceland deployed just six patrol boats and one aircraft. No one was seriously injured during the first war, but the British Navy spent half a million dollars on fuel for the ships. As a result, Iceland won.

Then the second Cod War began, in which the Icelandic fleet decided to use its secret weapon - the “cutter”. Its use took the Cod War to a new level. The Icelanders cut English fishing nets with reckless abandon. The British responded by ramming Icelandic patrol boats. This led to the first casualties in the Cod War.

The Second Cod War also ended in victory for Iceland. The countries signed an agreement that prohibited the British from fishing in Icelandic waters. This peace lasted only a few years, after which a new war broke out. The third and final Cod War was the worst. Icelandic patrol boats began firing live ammunition at their opponents, which undoubtedly resulted in wounded casualties. Ultimately, Britain, which suffered millions in losses, decided that the game was not worth the candle and left the Icelanders alone.

5. Operation Cottage

In 1943, there were rumors that the Japanese had occupied a small island off Alaska. Canadian and American soldiers were tasked with destroying them. The only problem was that the Japanese were already far away when the Allies arrived. Due to heavy fog, American and Canadian troops mistook each other for the enemy and opened fire. Then the American warship hit a Japanese mine. The soldiers who were exploring the island ran into booby traps left by the Japanese. As a result of the operation, Allied losses amounted to more than 300 people.

6. Ghull incident

Sometimes being too militant can lead to serious trouble. There is an interesting psychological phenomenon called the “Contagious Shot”. When one person decides to open fire, everyone else follows suit, even if none of them knows who they are shooting at. This is exactly what happened with the Russian Second Pacific Squadron.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Second Pacific Squadron was in the North Sea when it suddenly encountered several British fishing vessels, which it mistook for Japanese destroyers. Fire was opened on them - and a real madhouse began.

Rumors began to circulate among the Russian fleet that Japanese torpedoes had knocked out one ship and captured another. When the fog cleared, they realized that they were firing at each other.

7. Baltic Fleet

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Baltic Fleet was in a catastrophic situation. After the British learned of the incident in the North Sea, they sent their fleet to pursue the Baltic, which was forced to stop in Spain.

Members of the Baltic Fleet apologized to the British and bribed them to save their lives. After sailing to Madagascar, they were ordered to remain there until Russia sent reinforcements, which the fleet commander said they did not need. Two months have passed since then. Most of the fleet was struck down by malaria. Four ships were disabled from being in port for so long. Also, the crews of the ships tried several times to organize mutinies, which were suppressed.

In an attempt to restore the morale of the troops, the fleet commander decided to conduct exercises. This was a bad idea. Firstly, an innocent tugboat was injured during this exercise. Secondly, one of the ships began to sink for no apparent reason. Thirdly, during the exercise, another ship was accidentally hit and disabled.

8. Battle of San Jacinto

The Battle of San Jacinto took place during the Texas Revolution in 1836. In it, the losing side was literally “caught while sleeping.” The Mexican army built defensive structures day and night in preparation for an enemy attack.

The soldiers were very tired, so the commander allowed them to take a short nap during the day. The Texas rebels seized the opportunity and surrounded the Mexican army, capturing their only cannon in the process.

They fired one shot and rushed into action, catching the Mexicans by surprise. In a relatively short period of time, the rebels killed over 600 Mexicans. The Battle of San Jacito has been recognized as one of the greatest military defeats in history. Texan losses amounted to only eleven people.

9. Operation Eagle Claw

During the Iran Hostage Crisis, Americans sought a way to free their country's citizens who were being held against their will in the American embassy. President Carter approved the ambitious plan of the US Army Special Forces to rescue American citizens, but everything was smooth only on paper. This rescue operation became one of the largest failures in military history.

According to the plan, special forces units were to land in an uninhabited desert. Afterwards, they would be taken by six helicopters to the American embassy, ​​where they would free the hostages and fly away with them. Everything went wrong from the very beginning. As it turned out, the desert was inhabited, since there was a road next to the landing site. A bus with Iranians who were taken hostage drove along it. It was followed by an oil truck, which one of the Special Forces soldiers fired a missile at, blowing it up and alerting everyone to his presence.

Then a sandstorm started, so only four of the six helicopters arrived. This was not enough to take out all the hostages. The special forces had no choice but to abort the operation.

The commander called the plane, which rammed one of the helicopters during takeoff, provoking a powerful explosion. As a result, eight servicemen were killed.

10. First World War

The First World War was a big disaster because a huge number of people died due to lack of proper understanding of modern warfare. The armies of that time had an archaic mindset. They thought that the one who fought better would certainly win. This led to thoughtless accusations of enemies who were able to invent a machine gun and “mowed down” the enemy’s ranks on the battlefield.

World War I commanders also had high hopes for cavalry, but this method was clearly outdated. Perhaps the greatest failure of the First World War was the fact that leaders were chosen not by their personal qualities, but by their origin - preference was given to people from wealthy families. This led to a lot of incompetent decisions that were of key importance.

The material was prepared by Rosemarina - based on an article from therichest.com

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Original taken from dave_aka_doc in The Great Emu War

The year was 1932. The USSR introduced a unified passport system, the Spanish Republic adopted a law on the autonomous state of Catalonia, Japan began an operation to capture Shanghai, Finland suppressed a rebellion within itself, in the USA the Dow Jones index dropped to an absolute minimum of 41.81 points...

At this time, in distant Australia, the Minister of Defense declares war on ostriches >:3

And it all started like this...
After the First World War, many veterans of both the Australian and British armies (and some others) abandoned all world hegemony and politics and went to distant and calm Australia to farm. Nature, quiet, grace, a minimum of civilization and complete renunciation from everything.
The Australian government is rubbing its paws contentedly, hoping in one fell swoop to take first place in the world in the production and export of wheat. For this reason, “military farmers” are promised support and all sorts of subsidies - they say, my dears, just start expanding the acreage under cultivation, and they won’t rust behind us.

Veterans are honestly expanding the area under cultivation, doing land reclamation as best they can, and trying to turn the desert into a blooming garden. But the subsidies are never forthcoming (and when have politicians ever kept their promises?). Moreover, the former desert turns out to be the migration territory of Emu - quite such brave large ostriches, which once again, migrating, stumble upon young tasty shoots instead of salt marsh...

Needless to say, farmers are at boiling point? Their native Australian state set them up almost twice. And since the lion’s share of the new farmers were former military men, without hesitation they immediately rushed to the Ministry of Defense to complain and demand money.

The Australian Minister of Defence, Sir George Hawkeye Pierce, was a man of original thinking. And that’s why he didn’t give money, but instead took it and declared war on the ostriches. Let's not let our farming be offended! Let's protect the green pastures from vile feathered invaders! Well, everything like that. But with a condition: financing of the materiel of the military campaign, including all consumables, at the expense of Western Australia. From the Ministry of Defense - only people and equipment. Well, farmers provide their own food.

Pierce had several plans at once. Firstly, to promote your department and pompously help Western farmers. Secondly, train machine gunners on the ball. Thirdly, collect a hundred ostrich carcasses so that their feathers can be used to decorate the hats of the Australian light cavalry. The minister was a very enterprising man:3

An entire heavy artillery major named Meredith was seconded to conduct combat operations. He had under his command several soldiers, two trucks, two Lewis machine guns (these are the ones that Comrade Sukhov has in the film), 10,000 rounds of ammunition and one cameraman from the Fox Movietone studio, sent specifically to film the epic chronicle.

The rainy season began and when the clouds cleared - on November 2, 1932 - the Australian military went on the attack.
The first battle turned out so-so: two trucks with machine guns, bouncing on bumps and bumps in the off-road, spent the whole day chasing ostriches in the desert, shooting in all directions in long bursts. These ostriches, don’t be fools, scattered in all directions, remaining out of shooting range. In addition, there was no talk of targeted shooting at all.
According to the military report, it turned out to be very difficult to aim at the running birds, but despite this, during the first day of hostilities, “a certain number of birds” were destroyed (c)

The major begins to scour the desert in search of “tamer ostriches” that would not run away from machine guns and trucks. As a result, after six days of such hostilities, Meridith reports that two three hundred vile aggressors were killed, and the soldiers were full of determination and did not suffer any losses.

Local newspapers, day after day, are rolling with laughter in the sand of the Ministry of Defense and on November 8, Pierce recalls the abnormal artillery Major. The ostriches continue to eat the farmers' wheat.

But already on November 12, Meridith was sent back, and Pierce fiercely defended in parliament the need to continue the state’s war with ostriches. And the artillery major should be at the head, because there is still no better machine gunner in the state than him. The fuse inserted by the major works, and now the fighting brings in a hundred ostrich carcasses a week. As a result, by the beginning of December, Meridith reports about almost a thousand birds killed personally and about another 2,500 thousand that fled wounded into the desert and died there themselves. The soldiers are drilling holes in their jackets, the parliament is applauding, it’s already painful for the newspaper men to laugh.

As a result, this whole war of the state with ostriches acquires the name “Great” in the newspapers.
However, there is practically no result for farmers, because the total emu population is estimated at 30,000 individuals, and even if you believe the artillery major, he only lightly beat the ostriches.

Farmers in Western Australia repeatedly ask the state for help, but in the end everything is decided by the thirst for profit: a system of cash incentives is being activated for citizens for killing an emu with the provision of irrefutable evidence. And it’s simpler - everyone starts paying for the ostrich’s head. And as a result, in 1934 alone, 57,034 such “incentives” were paid.

This is how the war with ostriches turned out on the marsupial continent.
From all this it most definitely follows that no one in the whole world knows how to have fun as the Australians know how to do it =)