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.

[1] In February 1944 Kyle-Little transferred to the Special Investigation Bureau and worked with the Americans traveling on their ships around New Guinea, Borneo, and New Britain.

[2] While in a Military Hospital at Concord at the end of WWII Kyle-Little applied for the position of Cadet Patrol Officer for the Native Affairs Branch, of the Northern Territory Administration, an Australian Federal Government agency, in Darwin.

[3] 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.

[citation needed] There had been considerable disruption to tribal society during the war, and the lure of Darwin and access to tobacco and trade goods was strong.

When traveling in the wet season patrols experienced flooding and inundation of large areas, heavy rains for long periods, high humidity and an increase in biting insects like mosquitoes.

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.

For Arnhem Land patrols, initial transport from Darwin was typically by lugger and occasionally an aircraft to a drop-off point and then using native canoes, travelling on foot and at times swimming rivers.

Kyle-Little took a 303 rifle and ammunition, a large knife, a swag of canvas, blankets and a mosquito net, a set of spare clothes, toothbrush, compass, diary and multiple cakes of soap.

After completion of his 18-month probationary period, Kyle-Little and two other cadets were sent to the University of Sydney for a six-month course in Anthropology, Criminal Law and Tropical Medicine.

[11] 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.

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.

While there he received an invitation from the British Colonial Service to attend and be interviewed for a position as a Resettlement Officer in Malaya during the Emergency.

The first major task was the creation of a secure compound village of Kebun Bahru, New Garden, Tangkak District, Johor, Malaysia.