In 1932, with wheat farms overrun by roughly 20,000 emus, Australia deployed troops with Lewis machine guns. After some 10,000 rounds the birds scattered, regrouped, and the army quietly withdrew.
The full account: Major Meredith, two soldiers, two machine guns and 10,000 rounds sent against tens of thousands of emus in Western Australia, and how the birds outmaneuvered them.
The animated retelling that made the war a meme for 23 million viewers. Funny, but surprisingly faithful to the real campaign.
A sober history of why the guns failed: emus ran in scattered groups at up to 50 km/h, a jammed Lewis gun, and a mounted-truck attack that couldn't keep aim.
The aftermath: Parliament debated the fiasco, a commander joked the emus had 'the invulnerability of tanks,' and bounties replaced bullets.
A dramatized short that imagines the campaign from the soldiers' side, pinned down by an enemy that simply would not fall.
The emu: Australia's two-metre flightless bird, fast, hardy and nomadic. Understanding it explains why a handful of machine gunners never stood a chance.
The root cause: WWI veterans were pushed onto marginal wheat land, then hit by the Depression and emu invasions, and begged the government for soldiers and guns.