After attending the Ipswich and Brisbane Grammar Schools, E. Maurice Little completed his formal education in 1909 and subsequently undertook teaching duties with the Department of Public Instruction.
Enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in 1914, Little was a member of the 15th Infantry Battalion which was one of the first regiments to land on the shores of Anzac Cove. After arriving at Gallipoli he was granted a field commission (2nd Lieutenant) on 7 May 1915; barely two weeks later Little was severely wounded at Quinn's Point when a bomb which he was holding exploded in his hands. Little had spent only five weeks serving on the battlefields of the Gallipoli peninsula before suffering the debilitating injuries which resulted in the loss of his eyesight and the amputation of his right hand.
During the remaining course of his life Little appears to have spent periods of time living in Australia and England. While in London, he married Bessie Crowther who was a member of the Church of England Missionary Society. He lived in Brisbane for approximately ten years before returning to the UK where he studied Economics at Oxford University. He later revisited Australia but eventually settled in England where he died in 1938 while living in Bromley, south-east of London.
