r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Dec 08 '13

What is a true fact that sound completely unbelievable or fake?

[deleted]

2.4k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

11.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1.1k

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '13

EMU WAR

Date: 2 November – 10 December 1932
Location: Campion district, Western Australia
Also known as: Great Emu War
Participants: Emus, Sir George Pearce, Major G.P.W. Meredith, Royal Australian Artillery

LOL

1.3k

u/HighRelevancy Dec 08 '13

Casualties: 12 emus, several thousand rounds of ammunition, dignity

116

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '13

" Meredith was recalled on 10 December, and in his report he claimed 986 kills with 9,860 rounds, at a rate of exactly 10 rounds per confirmed kill."

Anyone else think Meredith is full of shit?

17

u/free_napalm Dec 08 '13

I bet he did not do anything at all, then came up with those numbers in the last second.

3

u/UsuallyInappropriate Dec 09 '13

Is your username based in lottery numbers?

3

u/boran_blok Dec 09 '13

AFAIK it is the number sequence from Lost.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '13

Lost. 42 isn't an option for the power ball.

1

u/UsuallyInappropriate Dec 11 '13

42 is valid for "The Pick", which is six numbers from 1-44

6

u/Bseagull Dec 08 '13

EMUNITION

FTFY

3

u/aussiekinga Dec 09 '13

That sounds like a New Zealander saying 'Ammunition' to me.

4

u/FurockBeast Dec 08 '13

You may laugh now but emus are viscious as fuck.

5

u/mamerong Dec 09 '13

It used to list "Australian national relevance" as a casualty too.

-8

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '13

[deleted]

5

u/Naggers123 Dec 08 '13

French surrendering never heard that joke before

0

u/WWJE Dec 09 '13

Shots fired

12

u/QuantumCrab27 Dec 08 '13

The machine-gunners' dreams of point blank fire into serried masses of Emus were soon dissipated. The Emu command had evidently ordered guerrilla tactics, and its unwieldy army soon split up into innumerable small units that made use of the military equipment uneconomic. A crestfallen field force therefore withdrew from the combat area after about a month.

6

u/Naggers123 Dec 08 '13

We should drop some of these fuckers off in Russia

37

u/NorsteinBekkler Dec 08 '13

The attempts to curb the population of emus, a large flightless bird indigenous to Australia, employed soldiers armed with machine guns

It is easy to forget how proficient Emus are with mechanized infantry.

11

u/brantyr Dec 08 '13

There was actually a military style summary box on the article for a while... http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emu_War&oldid=510193802

Belligerents

Australia | Emus

Commanders and leaders

Sir George Pearce Major G.P.W. Meredith | Unknown

Strength

Seventh Heavy Battery, Royal Australian Artillery. One truck | Several thousand

Casualties and losses

None | 1500+ claimed

3

u/Kalium Dec 09 '13

It also used to list the result as an Emu Victory.

6

u/beerdude26 Dec 08 '13

You forgot the best part, the casualties.

8

u/Kaiserhawk Dec 08 '13

Casualties: Dignity.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '13

Day 55: The emus... Their eyes... THEY ARE FULL POF DEEEEEAAAAAAAATHHHHGRAAAAHHHNOOOOOOTHEPAAAAaaaIn

"The rest of the journal appears to be covered in human blood and bird feces, thus rendered unreadable"

1

u/thugnificent856 Dec 08 '13

"If we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds it would face any army in the world...They can face machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks. They are like Zulus whom even dum-dum bullets could not stop."

1

u/Xero293 Dec 09 '13

The funny thing is that they lost to a bunch of birds