John Cleese Will Star in a Film About Australia’s Emu War, But What Actually Is the Emu War?

Here’s what TikTok has been talking about.

News broke yesterday that legendary British comedian John Cleese will be making his way down under to star in a movie about Australia’s Great Emu War.

This piece of relatively unknown Australian history from 1932 recently made its way into the limelight again on TikTok, raking in millions of views and now, 99 years since the war began, Monty Python member John Cleese has written and will star in the film.

Joining Cleese on-screen are fellow funnymen Monty Franklin and Jim Jefferies as well as Flight of the Conchords’ Rhys Darby (yes pls) as they reenact Australia's most humiliating defeat.

If you’re unfamiliar with Australia’s strangest military endeavour, here’s everything you need to know.

@_theiconoclass A national embarrassment. #cringe #onlyinaustralia #emuwar ♬ Somebody to love Basstrologe Bootleg - mthekyng

What led to the Great Emu War?

After World War I, returning soldiers were given land by the Australian government in the Campion district of Western Australia as thanks for their service.

The soldiers were then encouraged to farm the land and grow wheat to feed the nation during the Great Depression in return for subsidies.

What made farming that much harder was the regular migration of almost 20,000 emus, heading towards the coast after the breeding season.

However, when the emus came across the cleared farmland and additional water supplies, they found it to be a good habitat and stayed. This led to the big birds eating and destroying crops and destroying fences that then let rabbits in.

Clearly, something had to be done.

@gordonthecow #memes #australia #emuwar ♬ original sound - gordonthecow

When did Australia declare war on the emus?

By October 1932, the farmers were fed up with their crops being destroyed and sent some ex-soldiers to speak with Australia’s Minister of Defence requesting machine gun assistance which he approved.

On 2 November, Major Meredith and two soldiers armed with 10,000 rounds of ammunition declared war on the emus.

For the next six days, the army of three failed to make a dent in the emu forces despite deploying tactics like ambushes, herding, and at one stage even mounting the guns on the back of a truck that couldn’t keep up with the speed of the birds.

Come to the end of their war, the men had fired only 2,500 rounds of ammunition and reportedly killed only 50 emus.

So, Australia lost a war to emus?

Pretty much! Some people watching the events noticed that the emus were wise to the army’s efforts.

“Each pack seems to have its own leader now—a big, black-plumed bird which stands six feet high and keeps watch while his mates carry out their work of destruction,” one onlooker said.

Perth ornithologist (bird specialist) Dominic Serventy echoed their thoughts.

“The Emu command has evidently ordered guerrilla tactics, and its unwieldy army soon split up into innumerable small units that made use of the military equipment uneconomic,” Serventy said.

Honestly, you couldn’t make this stuff up.

For all the Aussie grit that we’re famous for, it’s funny to read that we were undone by wild emus.

99 years ago today, hostilities commenced in the Great Emu War.

A reminder for all military strategists.
- Never get involved in a land war in Asia.
- Don’t invade Russia in Winter.
- And don’t start a war with large flightless birds on a Wednesday. https://t.co/1m8IKvHs7V

— Dieter Hochuli (@dieterhochuli) November 1, 2021

John Cleese’s film about the Great Emu War is scheduled for a 2022 release.

Header Image: BBC/Jeremy Bezanger