Robert Erskine Childers DSC (25 June 1870 – 24 November 1922), universally known as Erskine Childers, was a British writer, whose works included the influential novel The Riddle of the Sands. He became a supporter of Irish Republicanism and smuggled guns into Ireland in his sailing yacht Asgard. He was executed by the authorities of the nascent Irish Free State during the Irish Civil War. (Wikipedia)
