Syd Kyle-Little

In 1981 he went to visit Maningrida with the rest of the Kyle-Little family to visit their son Simon, who was an Aboriginal adviser at Maningrida. While there, his family met the families of his tracker assistants from Patrol Officer days, Oondabunda and Narleba.

In 1968 the family returned to Australia to raise and educate their sons.

In 1957 Kyle-Little went to Singapore with his new wife and joined the corporate world, as a Manager for Wyeth International, a US pharmaceutical company.  Before taking up the post, he attended training in Manila where his first son was born and then went to live in Bangkok, Thailand as manager.

As the Emergency was winding down and Kyle-Little planned to marry he went on leave in December 1955. His military engagement ended on 7 April 1956.

In 1952 he was seconded to the British commanded Malayan Security Forces holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in their Home Guard. He had responsibility for the defence of all villages (kampongs) and towns in the State of Negri Sembian. His headquarters were in the state capital, Seremban.

After a change in the administration of the Native Affairs Branch that did not share his view on establishing an Aboriginal enterprise, in 1950 Kyle-Little decided on a long holiday. He initially went to the UK and Ireland and a planned trip to South America.

On return to Darwin in early 1950 he resigned his position as Patrol Officer to take up the position of Resettlement Officer in British Malaya.

With the support of the Native Affairs Branch Kyle-Little with another Patrol Officer, Jack Doolan planned to set up trading posts in 1949 for Aboriginal people in their own country. The intention was to enable the Indigenous people to keep their links with country, trade and thereby obtain the things they needed. The first and only one set up was at the site of current day Maningrida.

After the Second World War, in June 1946 Syd joined the Native Affairs Branch as a Cadet Patrol Officer. He was initially assigned to Arnhem Land, which was an area with almost total control of Aboriginal peoples and largely unexplored by Europeans. Aboriginal cultural and law practices predominated throughout the area except for the few mission stations around the periphery of Arnhem Land. While he patrolled in other areas of the Territory his focus was Arnhem Land.

The local Aboriginal Arnhem Land inhabitants have divided the year into four to six seasons depending on the part of Arnhem Land and the different wind and weather experienced. These seasons could be further subdivided based on availability and behaviour of plants and animals. Kyle-Little always travelled with a small group of Aboriginal people with intimate knowledge of the seasons and food and water availability. Late in 1946, he met two Aboriginal men, Oondabund and his brother, Narlebar who were linguistically fluent in seven of the local languages, had good English and were proficient hunters and trackers. They eventually were appointed as his assistants (as Aboriginal trackers) and became his good friends. Aboriginal people who assisted on the patrols were typically paid with tobacco, although his assistants received a small stipend.

In 1937 Kyle-Little joined the Darwin Mobile Force 1937 where he remained until the outbreak of World War II.  He then became a member of the  Australian Imperial Forces (AIF).  He was in Darwin at the time of the Japanese bombing and also stationed at some of the mission stations across the top of the Northern Territory He attained the rank of Warrant Officer. In February 1944 Kyle-Little transferred to the Special Investigation Bureau and worked wth the Americans traveling on their ships around New Guinea, Borneo, and New Britain.

The family in 1923 moved to Kedron, Brisbane, in Queensland, for the education of their four sons.

Sydney Hamilton Kyle-Little (8 November 1918 – 17 August 2012) was a soldier, Aboriginal Patrol Officer in the Northern Territory, Lieutenant Colonel during the Malayan Emergency and a businessman in Asia and Australia.