Eric was the son of Walter and Mildred, his father died whilst working in Nigeria in 1905 and his mother re-married.  She was living at Highcliffe in Cobbold Road when Eric died.

​

Eric was a market gardener before he joined up the Royal Garrison Artillery in Jan 1916 at the age of 18. He is thought to have suffered a mustard gas attack in December 1917 and was later wounded in May 1918. Eric received treatment in both France and in England at Cliff House in Felixstowe. Eric died of pneumonia at a military hospital in Winchester on February 11, 1919 aged 21. Eric is the nephew of the 3 Butterworth brothers, his mother was their sister. He is buried in St Peter and St Paul graveyard, where he is named on the same gravestone as his uncles, and commemorated on the Felixstowe Seafront Memorial

​

​