Eric Hugh William Bateson enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) at the Armidale NSW recruitment office in 1915 with service number 3627 in the 18th Infantry Battalion. He sailed from Sydney onboard HMAT Aeneas on 20 December 1915 en route for Egypt. Around mid- January 1916, the vessel would have arrived in Alexandria. Because the Gallipoli Campaign had ended, Eric's unit was probably sent on to France.

In the Somme valley, the I Anzac Corps was given the task of attacking the Pozières Ridge.  Just two days after their arrival, the offensive was launched, at 1.30 am on 23 July 1916.  On 4 August 1916, after an intense artillery bombardment of German positions, the Australian 2nd Division captured Pozières heights. It was on this day that Eric was Killed in Action. This is his inscription at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial near Amiens.

At the time of writing (2025), no further reports of what happened to Eric have been found.