Book excerpt: "War and the Arme Blanche" by Erskine Childers Robert Erskine Childers DSC, usually known as Erskine Childers, was an English-born Irish writer, politician, and militant. His work has been highly influential to readers from all walks of life. After the Boer War, he wrote this text about the changes in warfare. Swords and lances were replaced with firearms and men were more likely to fight on foot than on horeseback.