He served in World War I as an officer in the Russian Imperial Army before siding with the Bolsheviks and in 1917 being elected Chairman of the Military Revolutionary Committee of his regiment.
His father Kristaps (Christof) and mother Lina (née Laudon) were ethnic Latvians from rural areas of the center and north-west of the Courland Governorate respectively.
Christoph's income from working as a forwarding agent enabled his wife to concentrate on taking care of Henrich and his older brother Friedrich Wilhelm (born in 1890).
Eiche's political views were further influenced by his cousins who were active members of the Latvian branch of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party.
From 1923 until the day of his arrest in April 1938 he worked in government institutions in Moscow, including more than 12 years (beginning in 1924) in leading positions in Narkomvneshtorg, the Ministry of Foreign Trade.
In April 1954 the Military Board of the USSR Supreme Court repealed the decision of the NKVD Counterintelligence Department and dismissed the case for absence of the event of a crime.
Returning to Moscow after his release, as a member of the Military-Historical and Scientific Society Council of the Central Museum of the Soviet Army, Eiche was also active as a military historian and writer, devoting a great deal of time and effort to the editing of military/historical literature.
For participating in all of the battles of the 245th Infantry, Berdyansk Regiment, 62nd Infantry Division, 10th Army of the Western Front from August 1915 to the end of 1917, Eiche was awarded: During the years of the Civil War Eiche was awarded: After his release Eiche was awarded: • Forced Crossing of the Belaya River by Units of the 5th Army of the Eastern Front in June 1919, Moscow-Leningrad, 1928 [Форсирование реки Белой частями 5-й армии Восточного фронта в июне 1919 г., М.- Л., 1928]; • Tactical Lessons from the Civil War, Moscow, 1931 [Тактические поучения гражданской войны, М., 1931]; • Kolchak’s Ufa Adventure, Moscow, 1966 [Уфимская авантюра Колчака, М., 1966]; • Defeated Rear, Moscow, 1966 [Опрокинутый тыл, М., 1966].