Vale - Carbine Club NSW

Phil Coles AM (1978)

Born: 1931
Carbine Club Member since: 1978
Previous Carbine Club positions: Founding Member

Phil is an Australian sports administrator and former sprint canoer. Competing at the 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo, and 1968 Mexico City Olympics, he earned his best finish of ninth in the K-4 1000 m event at the Tokyo games, where he was also the team captain.

He was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1982 to 2011 and became an honorary member of that organisation in 2012. He has been a member of the Executive Board of the Australian Olympic Committee since 1973, and was a founding member of the Oceania National Olympic Committees.

He has also served on the boards of other sporting organisations. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1983 "In recognition of service to sport", and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1993.

Sir James Hardy OBE (1979)

Born: 1932
Carbine Club Member since: 1979

Sir James Gilbert Hardy OBE AASA is an Australian winemaker and businessman who is also noted for his yachting achievements. A descendant of the South Australian winemaker Thomas Hardy, James Hardy was born at Seacliff, South Australia. His father, Tom Mayfield Hardy, who was appointed chairman and managing director of Thomas Hardy and Sons in 1924, was one of those killed near Mount Dandenong on 25 October 1938 in the crash of the plane "Kyeema". Tom Hardy was a noted sailor, associated with the yacht Nerida at the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron.

Hardy was educated at Brighton Primary School, St. Peter's College and the South Australian Institute of Technology. On leaving school, he spent two years share farming at Port Vincent, South Australia, then joined the family wine company Thomas Hardy and Sons in 1953, working as a shipping clerk. He then served as Sales Supervisor from 1957 to 1961, then as Regional Director for the Eastern States of Australia, when he and his family moved permanently to Sydney with a residence at Manly. He was appointed chairman in 1981 and non-executive director in 1992 when it merged to become BRL Hardy Wine Company. A renowned world champion yachtsman, Hardy represented Australia at two Olympic Games (1964 in Tokyo and 1968 in Mexico City), skippered three America's Cup challenges in 1970, 1974 and 1980), and competed in four Admiral's Cup Ocean Racing Championships. Hardy has served 25 years on the executive committee of the Neurosurgical Research Foundation of South Australia. He was Chair of the Federal Government's Natural Heritage Trust Advisory Committee for 8 years. He is a former Chairman of the Landcare Foundation. In 1975, in recognition of his contribution to sailing and the community, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 1981 he was invested a Knight Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II, for services to yachting. In 1994, Hardy was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame. In 2000 he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal. He was Chairman of Sydney's Australia Day Regatta, serving from 2004 until 2011, and is a patron of numerous organizations and charities

JOHN (DOUG) DONOGHUE AM

The Carbine Club of NSW is saddened to hear of the death of one of its most popular and passionate Senior Members, Doug Donoghue AM at the age of 86.

A member of the Carbine Club since 1982, Doug was a key administrator within the Australian Olympic Committee including lobbying in Europe for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games’ bid.

Further details on Doug’s wonderful achievements in the sporting arena are in the attached note from his great friend and fellow Carbine Club Member John Coates, former President of the Australian Olympic Committee.

Doug was a true gentleman in the finest Carbine Club tradition and contributed to the Club for over 40 years, always warm and inspirational in his spirit and giving of his time and a great friend to many.

The Carbine Club’s long term administrator Victoria Ramirez summed up the feeling amongst the Committee and all Club members when she wrote “What a man. He epitomised the Carbine Club spirit. He was a mentor to me when I joined the club in 1997. A gentleman and just a lovely person. He will be truly missed.”

Those thoughts would be echoed by every member who knew Doug well and the Club is grateful for Doug’s generous and dedicated long term support for everything Carbine.

He will indeed be sadly missed at future Carbine Club events and the Club sends its deepest condolences to Doug's family.

Caroline Searcy, Chair, Carbine Club NSW
4.8.2022

Alan Keith Davidson MBE AM

Born: June 1929
Carbine Club Member since: 1977 Founding Member
Previous Carbine Club positions: Chairman, Committee, Life Member

The son of Leslie Keith Davidson and Hilda Aileen Clifton, Davidson grew up in Lisarow, NSW near the city of Gosford on the NSW Central Coast. He learnt to play cricket on a pitch that he dug out of a hill on his family's rural property. By the age of nine, he was playing in the second division of the Gosford grade competition. Throughout his high school years, he represented Northern High Schools in the state combined public schools' competition where he played against his future Test captain Richie Benaud, who captained City High Schools. During his teenage years, Davidson kept fit by working on the family property, chopping wood and carrying farm produce. An Australian former cricketer of the 1950s and 1960s.

He was an all rounder: a hard-hitting lower-order left-handed batsman, and an outstanding left-arm fast-medium opening bowler. Strongly built and standing six feet tall, Davidson was known for his hard hitting power, which yielded many long hit sixes. His left arm bowling was a mainstay of the Australian pace attack of the 1950s and early 1960s, and from the late 1950s widely regarded as one of the finest pace bowlers in the world, with a classical bowling action which imparted late swing…

Davidson was considered along with Wasim Akram as one of the two greatest left arm fast bowlers in history, and bowled with great control, conceding less than two runs per over. Only two other post-war bowlers have a superior bowling average. Davidson was known for his anticipation in close catching positions and his accurate and strong throwing arm from the outfield. His ability to take improbable close range catches saw him earn the nickname "The Claw" Davidson married Betty Patricia McKinley in 1952. Their sons were born in 1953 and 1955 while he was on tour in England and the West Indies respectively. He was named as the New South Wales Father of the Year in 1982.

Davidson was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1962. He was made a Member of the order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1964 and a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1987. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1988, the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2004, and the ICC Hall of Fame in 2011. He received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000.

Alan Davidson Oval, in Alexandria and Wyoming, NSW, is named after him.

Alan sadly passed in October 2021

Ken Page

Sadly Life Member Ken Page passed away yesterday 24.10.2021. A truly beautiful man, his wife Heather a lovely lady. They are well supported by their family. He will be truly missed.

Ken Page had a long history of success and dedication within the sporting industry.

Golf and horse racing were only two of his sporting interests, and his involvement in sport over many years demonstrated Ken's great sporting passion.

Ken made a significant contribution to the horse-racing industry. He was media spokesman and then General Manager of Marketing and Public Relations at the NSW TAB and was the Australian representative to the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga, USA.

Ken was the Managing Director of Adam Thoroughbreds Pty Ltd and Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Fundraising Committee of NSW. He was also a member of the Olympic Games Fundraising Committee of NSW.

In 2006 Ken was awarded the Order of Merit by the New South Wales Olympic Council in recognition for his outstanding contribution to sport and the Olympic movement.

A popular and supportive member of the Carbine Club and a friend to so many, our thoughts are with Heather and the rest of Ken's family.