Eric Tregurtha was born on 21 April 1888 in Rockhampton, Queensland. His parents, Henry Tregurtha and Harriet Martindale, moved with their six children — of which Eric was the youngest — to Western Australia sometime during the 1890s.
Eric attended Highgate Hill School where he was awarded a Proficiency Prize and, from 1901, played three seasons in the forward line for the school football team. He joined the neighbouring Rangers club in 1904 and played for a period as goalkeeper in the Junior League. The highlight of Eric’s footballing days arrived in late 1908 when he helped the club win the Challenge Cup & Shield, defeating City United 3-2 in a tense final.
Eric worked for the National Bank and soon accepted a post at their Goomalling branch, 130-plus kilometres north-east of the metropolitan area.
In September 1915 Eric returned to Perth to enlist with the 28th Battalion, as a Private. While training in Egypt in early 1916 he was allotted to the 51st Battalion, a newly formed regiment consisting of Gallipoli veterans and fresh recruits. They sailed for France in mid-year and within day had been moved into the frontline at Fleurbaix. The 51st Battalion were heavily involved in fighting at Mouquet Farm, which was held by the Germans.
In the early morning of 3 September, the AIF launched what was to be one final attack; the enemy machine gunners raked the battalion with heavy machine gun fire from close range. Eric was reported as wounded and missing. A Court of Enquiry held in April 1917 determined that 28-year old Eric Tregurtha had been killed in action on 3 September, 1916, at Mouquet Farm in France. He has no known grave.