Characters of WW1 - Robert Erskine Childers DSC

The English-born Irish Nationalist Robert Erskine Childers is famous for his writing of The Riddle of the Sands, now a film starring Michael York and Simon MacCorkindale. He wrote the book in 1903 as a warning to the British government of the coming of war with Germany and the need to make preparations against invasion. He was an avid sailor and based his book on his sailing experiences off the Frisian coast. As a fervent believer in the British Empire, he volunteered to serve with the Honourable Artillery Company during the Boer War, but his experiences in South Africa led to his gradual disillusionment with colonialism.

Initially, Childers had hopes of being adopted as a Liberal parliamentary candidate, but his disillusionment with the delays in adopting Home Rule for Ireland led him to resign his party membership. Moreover, in the summer of 1914 as war with Germany was brewing, he used his yacht to smuggle German-bought weapons into Southern Ireland for use against the British by the Irish Volunteers. Nonetheless, on the outbreak of war, he volunteered to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was given a temporary commission as a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Air Service. His first task was to join a committee considering options to invade Germany via the Frisian Islands. He was appointed to HMS Engadine, the Royal Navy’s first seaplane carrier and was responsible for teaching young pilots the art of coastal navigation. He then helped plan the bombing raid on the Zeppelin sheds at Cuxhaven on Christmas Day 1914. This was the world’s first bombing mission launched from the sea. It was in this connection that he makes his first appearance in my WW1 ‘For Those in Peril’ series of novels. Childers was Mentioned in Despatches for his role in the raid.

In 1915, Childers was sent to the eastern Mediterranean to serve in another seaplane carrier, this under the command of Commander Charles Samson (who features prominently in my naval aviation novel ‘The Wings of the Wind’). Here he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. In 1916 he was sent to serve in the Admiralty, but found it too mundane for his adventurous spirit and volunteered to serve with the newly-formed and top secret Coastal Motor Boats (CMB) flotilla as its navigation specialist. Here his knowledge of the German-held coast and its shallow waters was invaluable. He makes a cameo appearance in my novel about CMBs ‘The Suicide Club’.

Childers was promoted to lieutenant commander and, on account of his political record, appointed to a committee pulling together the opposing views of the Irish Nationalists and Unionists. After nine months the talks came to nothing and on 1 April 1918, Childers transferred to the RAF on its formation and became a major. His task then was to prepare navigation briefs for the bombing of Berlin. When the war ended, he provided intelligence assessments on the bombing of Belgium before leaving the RAF in 1919. He returned to his pre-war position as a clerk to the House of Commons.

In the ensuing years he became more and more involved in the cause for Irish independence and the offer of his services to Sinn Féin was accepted. Using his fame as an author, he was able to influence British public opinion towards the Nationalist cause. He stood as a Sinn Féin candidate in the General Election, but failed to win his seat. He was highly influential in the talks that led to the conclusion of the Anglo-Irish treaty agreement, but whilst this helped soften the British stance, Childers felt the Irish were being asked to accept too much compromise. When the treaty was accepted by the Irish Dáil, he denounced it and became a leading member of the IRA during the subsequent civil war. A fugitive for many months, he was eventually captured by the forces loyal to the Dáil and found with a pistol in his possession, an illegal act. He was tried by an Irish military court in November 1922 and sentenced to death. Four days later, he was executed by firing squad and so ended the life of a man decorated for his loyalty to the Empire, and a leading proponent of Irish independence, but now considered a renegade. By both the British and Irish governments. His son, Erskine Hamilton Childers was later to become the president of Ireland.