Life Members and Biographies

GRAHAM DONLEY – Life Member of Cavaliers and of WAFA

Graham Donley at Cavalier

Graham Donley joined Cavalier School of Fencing in 1955.Three months later, he was coaching and went on to become Senior Instructor. In all, his membership lasted 27 years. During that time, Graham worked tirelessly for the Committee filling such positions as Senior Instructor, Club Captain, President, Vice President, Equipment Officer, and WAAFA Delegate. He was given a Life Membership of the Club in 1968.He retired in 1982. (Picture taken 2009)

Graham Donley at WAFA

Graham spent much of his time working for WAFA.  He held several different offices during that time, including President, Vice President and State Coach.

He was given Life Membership of WAFA in 1976. After retiring from WAAFA, he continued to represent Cavaliers at the WAFA meetings. (This information was obtained from Graham on the 27th April 2007)

GEORGE OSGOOD – Life Member of Cavaliers and of WAFA

1951 - Started Fencing at the Perth Amateur Fencing club.
1953 - Was equipment officer, armourer and instructor until the club closed in 1961.
1961 - Joined Cavaliers fencing club, about 1964 was equipment officer, also repaired and checked fencing equipment.
1961 - Helped Jack Yates and Terry Dean form the Postal Institute fencing club as an honorary member.
1962 - was an official and assisted with the armoury for The British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
1963 - Tournament chairman for W.A.A.F.A. for approx 2 years, also repaired equipment.
1965- Armourer for the XVIIth Australian Amateur Fencing Championships at John Curtin High School August 30th -- September 4th.
1976 - Formed with Terry Dean The Musketeers Fencing Club, also helped with the instructing, until it closed in approx 1985.
1995 - was given life membership of Cavalier School of Fencing for dedication to Armoury work.
2000 - Received Australian Sports Medal.
2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 - Armourer for AFF3 and D H McKenzie Tournament.At present time is still doing research on the history of fencing in W.A. (This information was obtained from George in April 2007, written by Gillian Kings-Lynne April 2007).

GILLIAN KINGS-LYNNE – Life Member of Cavaliers and of WAFA

16 January 2002

It is with very great pleasure that I write to inform you of the decision of the ECU Cavalier School of Fencing to offer you a Life Membership of the club.  We appreciate the major role you have played in steering the club from when we only had a dozen or so members in the mid 1990’s to present day where we have almost 100 members.

From your early days you have ensured that the administration of membership received the highest priority and this has proven to be a major factor in our success.  It is especially significant given the sheer number of members and the associated amount of paperwork required for each member.

Not only has the membership increased but the services to members have also increased, and much of this has been due to your tireless efforts.  Initiatives such as newsletters, reminder notices, information boards and the life saving tea and coffee could easily be over looked, but these helped to bind and create what would just be a group of people into our wonderfully cohesive club.

On behalf of the committee of 2001, I would like to offer you our warmest congratulations and thank you for your enormous dedication, facilitating the expansion of our club to new horizons.

Catherine Rogers  (President)

From Cavs Newsletter January 2004

Gillian Kings-Lynne receiving her AFF Excellence Award for Outstanding Service from AFF President, Helen Smith.

Gillian Kings-Lynne has been involved in the administration of fencing in WA for over 8 years.  She has been the Secretary of the Cavalier School of Fencing for all of that time, and the Secretary of WAFA for six of those years.  Her efforts have greatly assisted in the rising success of WA fencing and also, indirectly, the growth of the AFF in terms of membership numbers.

Gillian has firmly maintained a policy of 100% affiliation of club members to WAFA and for capitation of all WAFA members to the AFF.  Her vision and commitment to these ideals have ensured that these policies are now fundamental to both the Club and the Association.  These policies also help the AFF remain strong, especially in terms of reportable membership numbers to funding bodies.  The contribution of WA to the AFF in this area is considerable and this directly stems from the policies that Gillian stands for.

Cavaliers is the largest club in WA largely because of Gillian’s efforts, which have facilitated the dramatic increase in the size of the club from 15 people in 1996 to 110 people today.  Her tireless work in this area has won the admiration of all Cavaliers members and her efforts to make both new and old members feel welcome has become one of the hallmarks of the club.

Gillian continues to be the editor of two fencing publications: ‘The Fencer’ is the magazine of the Cavaliers School of Fencing, which is published on a quarterly basis.  ‘WAFA Waffle’ is the official WAFA magazine which now has an international circulation, published semi-annually. 

These two publications are produced on a voluntary basis by Gillian to the ongoing delight of their readers.  Gillian is not a fencer herself, but is a volunteer Mum whose children are still involved in the sport. 

She continues her hard work, spending countless hours each week performing administrative work for fencing.

(Written by Mark Suddaby, 2004)  (Picture taken 2000)

GILLIAN KINGS-LYNNE wins the Valued Volunteer Award City of Stirling 2011.

“The Ancient texts say Gillian arrived on the scene as a mother to three fencers and was an active volunteer from the start.

Sadly, her children have all moved on from the sport, but the Mum instinct remained and she has become the unofficial mother of the club. 

In-between her tireless duties of organising newsletters, emails, collecting fees, registrations and organising the committee she can often be heard shouting at fencers to tuck their shirts in.

 At the club’s peak Gillian was maintaining enrolments for 90-100 fencers, a job which for a long while, was done solely by herself. 

She also volunteered as Registrar for the state fencing body (WAFA) for 5-6 years.

As someone who has never actually fenced herself, I find her commitment to the sport amazing and I fear the day she finally leaves as the club will never find the ten slaves needed to replace her.”

Written by Gary Bates

MAHMUD JAFFAR – Life Member of Cavaliers and of WAFA

In November 2000, a Life Membership was presented to Mahmud Jaffar in acknowledgment of the many years of dedicated service to the Cavalier School of Fencing. 

Mahmud was 11 when he started fencing at the club with his brother, Rashid.  The brothers showed promise at an early age and their love of fencing was supported by their family. 

A significant influence on Mahmud’s fencing life was the coaching expertise of Barry Wasley.  Mahmud still recalls with great respect the days when Barry was always there for advice and direction.

Around the years 1978-80, Mahmud and Rashid entered several National Competitions in Brisbane, Canberra and Perth, with a great deal of success, although it was usually Rashid who won!  Trevor Spafford remembers in particular the U/20 Championships in Perth when Mahmud excelled with a brilliant display of fencing.

During the recent years of decline in fencing in Perth, Mahmud held Cavaliers together single-handedly with a small group of followers until 1995, when support was found to revive the sport with a strong committee to re-establish WAAFA and strengthen the administration structure of Cavaliers.

Since then, Mahmud has worked tirelessly to promote the sport within the club and the State.  He has held the positions of President, Treasurer and State delegate to the AFF Board on the WAAFA committee.  He is the Head Coach of Cavaliers and has taken a heavy workload on every committee.  He has worked closely with the Ministry of Sport and Recreation to obtain funding for visiting coaches and has been instrumental in establishing links with the Australian Fencing Federation which have been so vital in the recent promotion of Western Australian fencing.

Congratulations are extended to Mahmud from the members of the Cavalier School of Fencing.

(Written by Gillian Kings-Lynne for the newsletter in 2000)  (Picture taken 2005)

[1] MAHMUD JAFFAR wins the Valued Volunteer Award City of Stirling 2011.

“Cavaliers’ Fencing Club was built around Mahmud, so-much-so that if he ever were to leave we would need engineers to assess his load bearing rating before being moved.

In his 38 years with the club he has hardly ever missed a session – in the early days as a keen fencer to more recently as the coach to our Bladez kids group.

When not battling them, he battles the Cavaliers’ account books which are at times scarier than a sword-wielding child.

For several years in the 90’s, Fencing experienced a heavy decline in volunteers.  Mahmud single-handedly held the club together through this tough period and many believe that without his tireless efforts, Cavaliers (and perhaps even fencing in WA) would not exist today.

He has also contributed many years of work to developing fencing on a state and national level, much of which is unaccountable behind the scenes.”

Written by Gary Bates

[2] MAHMUD JAFFAR wins the Valued Volunteer Award City of Stirling 2011.

“Mahmud Jaffar was the outright winner from five nominees for the Valued Volunteer 2011 Award from the City of Stirling. 

Mahmud has been a club member for more than 35 years and has held almost every committee position in that time.  Currently, he is the Treasurer. 

He is the longest serving coach in the state, and from the late 1980’s, he single-handedly held the sport of Fencing together in Perth.

As a top Foilist, Mahmud has taken State and National titles since he was 13 years old, continuing into the Veteran category.

Mahmud received a trophy and other prizes at the Presentation Dinner at the City of Stirling.”

Written by Gillian Kings-Lynne

GERALD McMAHON – Life Member of Cavaliers and Sydney Olympics 2000 Selection              

Gerald was born 13th May 1957 and raised in the South-West town of Nannup.  He came up to Perth for University studies and started fencing aged 23 yrs towards the end of his University days.

Five years later, in 1985, he moved to London in order to further his chances of more advanced training. 

He fenced at Salle Paul under Coach Ziemek Wojciechowski, the National British Coach.  His training was intense and included the regularly-held week-long National Foil Training Camps over the years.

He went to his first World Championships in Bulgaria in 1986, and to every World Championships from then on except for 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000, which were the Olympic Years.  His world ranking reached as high as 85 in 1994.

The highlight of his fencing career was his selection for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, by which time he was aged 43 years.  This followed his placing at 64 in the previous year’s World Championships and at 30 in Coruna in Spain earlier in the year.  He was holding second position in Britain at this time and a world ranking of 95.

Gerald is the only Western Australian to reach an Olympic Selection in fencing.  Since 2000, Gerald has ceased competing at top level and now enjoys recreational fencing.

He lives with his wife, Linda, and daughter, Rosie, in London.

(Written by Gillian Kings-Lynne April 2007)  (Picture taken 2000)

8 December 2001

It is with very great pleasure that we write to inform you of the decision of the ECU Cavalier School of Fencing to offer you a Life Membership of the club.

Our club appreciates the enormous amount of dedication required to reach the level of excellence you have achieved in your fencing career.  Through your connections to the local fencing scene in Western Australia, Cavaliers has followed your progress and joined with you in your excitement as you reached your goal of acceptance for the Australian Fencing Team at the Sydney Olympic Games 2000.

We appreciate that you have always acknowledged your associations with Western Australia and have joined with us socially and in the sport as much as possible during your trips home. 

We believe you have set high standards in the qualities of determination, endurance and professional conduct in the sport of fencing and know that this will serve as an inspiration to any young Western Australian fencers wishing to further their fencing to an international level.

On behalf of the Committee of 2001, may I offer you our warmest congratulations and the hope that it won’t be too long in the future before meeting up with you once more.

Catherine Rogers  (President)

LINDA McMAHON – 3 x Olympian Foilist  

Linda started fencing at 14 years and for the first few years only trained once a week.  Along with her brother, Andy Martin, she was tutored by her father, the well-known fencing coach, Dick Martin.  She did not fence more regularly until after leaving school.

In 1976, she was first reserve for the Montreal Olympics, but unfortunately was not called.

She first made the British Foil Team in 1977, at the World Championships in Buenos Aires.   Since then, she has fenced at all the World Championships, her best performances being in Rome in 1982 where she was a finalist, and in Lisbon in 1983 where she attained bronze.

Linda fenced in three Olympic Games – in Moscow in 1980, in Los Angeles in 1984 where she ranked 9th/10th and in Seoul in 1988.

She has been British Women’s Foil Champion five times and a Gold Medallist at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.

During her visit to Australia in 1997, she won the Women’s Foil in the Open National Championships.

At home in London, she has worked as a Fencing Coach and Development Officer for many years.  More recently she has retired from the sport to follow other interests.

(Written by Gillian Kings-Lynne April 2007)

CATHERINE CHAMBERLAIN – Life Member of Cavaliers

Profile in Newsletter

Catherine has been fencing since 1996 and in that short time, through disciplined training, she has propelled herself into the ranks of WA’s top women fencers.

Her style is characterised by a strong sense of tactical play, and an ability to take over the initiative against an attacking fencer from a defensive position.

In addition to new found prominence as an elite fencer, Catherine is quick to put many hours back into the sport through amateur coaching.

Her debut performance at the Australian Open placed her in the top 16 in the country, the best placed of WA’s women, and included a victory over Australia’s top ranked fencer and World No. 20, Evelyn Halls.

In addition to the individual event, Catherine played an anchoring role in the women’s team event in which WA finished =3.

In a sport dominated exclusively for decades by NSW and Victoria, Catherine’s contribution to WA’s overall 4th place at the Open was significant.” 

N. Nutt, Pres.

So reads the report sent to the Ministry of Sport on the occasion of Catherine’s Sports State Rep Award presentation.  Catherine has covered a remarkable distance in fencing since she arrived at our club as a complete novice some years ago.

From the very first lesson, Catherine was hooked on fencing. Not only was she enthusiastic about the sport, but it was soon obvious that she was going to be a ‘mover and shaker’ into the bargain as Cavs social life began to swing into action with outings such as  cable ski and surf cat  meets.

With her incredible energy and her now famous (since the camp skit) smile, Catherine made friends very quickly, providing the social cohesion and practical support much needed by the club at that time.

Catherine rapidly became an enthusiastic fencer keen to improve her skills and to coach beginners at the same time.  She became one of the Junior Club coaches along with Neil and Christopher and wants to cement those skills by completing her Level 1 coaching this year.

In 1997, Catherine undertook her first interstate competition with the Murdoch team at Intervarsity in Adelaide.  In the following year, when the event was held in Perth, she was one of the principal supporters in an organisational capacity as well as on the piste.

In 1998 she went to the Nationals.  By now, with the experience of Intervarsity, she had the confidence to push her way through to the final sixteen in foil.  This was a great achievement for a Nationals debut.

With a heavy load at University and an interest in other sports (frisbee!!) and a variety of activities, Catherine is a very busy lady.  However she never allows fencing to suffer as a result. 

Catherine throws herself whole heartedly into every aspect of the hard work of the club.  She is the President for this year, takes the bulk of the junior coaching and shares the work of looking after the equipment.

It is our privilege to have Catherine as a Cavs member.  It is not every club that can boast a blonde (intellectual of course) President!!  We wish her well and will follow with interest the progress of her fencing career.   

(Written by Gillian Kings-Lynne)

TREVOR SPAFFORD  1930 – 2011 life Member of Cavaliers and of WAFA

It is with a great deal of sadness that we inform you that Trevor passed away on the 18th March 2011 after a long ordeal from from bowel cancer.

Trevor joined Cavaliers Club in the late 1960's and played a major role both in the development of our Club and in the development of State Fencing.  For many years he held committee positions at each level, taking particular interest in the development of safety standards with equipment and clothing. 

In 1995, he was made a Life Member of the Club, and in later years became a Life Member of WA Fencing Association.  He was well-known throughout the Australian Fencing Federation as well, having passed a term as Vice President on that committee.

 He was a particularly competitive fencer and a very keen supporter of tournaments at all levels.  He realised that without a stronger level of government support, fencing in this state would never progress to its full potential and that our local fencers would always be disadvantaged within the Australian sphere.  It was his dream to see better financial support for this sport to become a reality.

Trevor led an adventurous lifestyle in his youth - from training as a fighter pilot on aircraft carriers to working as a test pilot for experimental planes.  His extraordinary sense of hand-eye coordination obviously translated very well into fencing - a sport in which he was able to participate during his duties in the Navy.  As an engineer, he was always interested in a broad range of inventive ideas and enjoyed the challenge of an engineering problem.

 We extend our sincere sympathy to Trevor's son, Andrew, his daughter-in-law Meredith and his grand-daughter, Charlotte.  We also extend our sympathies to Jenny, Andrew's mother.     

(Written by Gillian Kings-Lynne2011)

Read on Saturday 10th December 2011 on the occasion of the inaugural presentation of the trophy donated by his family – Trevor Spafford Memorial Trophy for Best and Fairest.

Trevor joined Cavaliers Club in the late 1960's on his arrival in Western Australia, marking the beginning of 51 years of contribution to the sport in this state.

He played a major role in the development of fencing during that time, providing continual input over those years at both state and national level.

His contribution was integral in the restructuring of the Western Australian Fencing Association as Vice President in 1995 after its lengthy hiatus.

He received Life Memberships to Cavaliers in 1995 and to WAFA 1997.  In 2000 he was awarded an Australian Sports Medal in recognition of his significant contributions to the sport.

He was a particularly competitive fencer and a very keen supporter of tournaments at all levels. 

He was unswerving in his belief that without stronger financial input, fencing in this state would never progress to its full potential.  It was his dream that government support should enable Western Australian fencers the means to participate in national competition on an equal par with fencers from the Eastern States.

Trevor was a pillar of the Western Australian fencing community.  As Bill Ronald, Past President of the AFF writes – “Trevor was a great advocate for fencing and especially for fencing in Western Australia. He was a driving force for the re-energising of that state and always presented his compelling arguments with charm and wit - a man who was always articulate, passionate and straight forward in his communication.  He was a valued member of the AFF and the fencing family in general. 

Trevor led an adventurous lifestyle in his youth - from training as a fighter pilot on aircraft carriers to working as a test pilot for experimental planes.  His extraordinarily advanced sense of hand-eye coordination translated very well into fencing - a sport in which he was able to participate during his duties in the Navy. 

His interests were far broader than fencing.  As an engineer, he enjoyed the challenge of a never-ending range of inventive ideas across a broad range of subjects – from electric bikes in Perth to oil storage tanks in Albany.

While passionate for the sport, and always a fierce competitor, Trevor was also always the gentleman - an increasingly rare commodity in this day and age.  With more than 65 years of fencing to his credit, Trevor’s family – Andrew, Meredith, Charlotte and Jenny – have generously donated this special trophy to continue amongst the new generation of fencers the fair and generous spirit in which Trevor practised his beloved fencing.

Compiled by Gillian Kings-Lynne combining contributions from Gillian Kings-Lynne, Ben Peden and Bill Ronald.  2nd December 2011

TREVOR SPAFFORD – A Fencer Profile for the Cavaliers’ Newsletter

Trevor was born at Sheffield, England in 1930 and went to school at Brocksford Hall and later, the Nautical College Pangbourne.  It was during his time at Pangbourne that he started to fence, and he represented the school against various others including the Royal Naval College Dartmouth.

In 1947 he entered his first open competition, the Public Schools Championships, but did not do too well.  Not put off, he entered a South Yorkshire Sabre competition while on school holidays.  The prized trophy for the winner was a Japanese sword from the recent war.  Trevor really wanted that sword, but couldn’t quite manage and had to make do with second place.

From there, Trevor joined the Royal Navy and trained at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth. The tables were turned and he now fenced for Dartmouth against Pangbourne.

A memorable foil competition was held on the deck of the training cruiser HMS Devonshire where he easily took the first place despite the obstacle of the rolling and pitching of the vessel!

There were no opportunities to fence as a midshipman at sea, but on his appointment to the Royal Naval Engineering College, Manadon, Plymouth, he was able to follow his fencing more seriously and did very well at competitions held in the West Country and the Navy.

From the Engineering College, he elected to fly and trained as a fighter pilot on a front line squadron on the Ark Royal.  At this stage, fencing had to take second place to his Naval career and this prevented any possibility of reaching an international level, but his two best moments were winning the Royal Navy Epee in 1955 and 1959. 

On the latter occasion, he remembers getting rather tired at the end of a long competition and he and two others barraged for the win.  He said to himself “Well I shall be at least third.”  But then he said to himself “… no, I’ll go back and say I won.” – and he did! 

It is interesting to note that on these two occasions he had very little preliminary fencing training but was very fit physically and mentally.  In both cases he got into his stride as the competition progressed and at the end had the stamina. 

Appointed for test flying duties to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, Boscombe Down, he kept up fencing and even fenced for RAF Maintenance Command in the RAF Command Championships at St Athan.  Although he managed to enter all the Royal Navy Championships until leaving for Singapore in 1963, he never won the Epee title again.

For over two years in Singapore and for another two and a half years back in UK test flying at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Bedford, Trevor did not fence at all.  He eventually retired early from the navy and settled in Western Australia to start a new life in the field of engineering.

Realising that the State Sabre was to be held at Mt Lawley, Trevor started fencing again as he thought it would be a good idea for his young son Andrew to get a taste of the sport.  It was at this time that he joined Cavaliers.

Although a force to be reckoned with, he never won a State Championship, nor was he ever in reach of the Australian team.  He fenced for WA, however, against the Indonesian National team and all other Australian States, in two Nationals and one National Selection competition.

In addition to the sporting side, Trevor has had his fair share of committees as well. He has taken the roles of  State President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer here as well as the position of National Vice President for the (then) AAFF.

Trevor is naturally competitive (‘you can’t be a fighter pilot and not be competitive’) and enjoys the challenge and excitement of a hard fought bout.  After more than fifty years of competition, he has few regrets.  He thinks fencing has improved, is faster, is more fun and a much better spectacle than it was when he entered the sport.  There was no electrical scoring in those days.

Despite a lifetime of troublesome asthma and an occasional rebellious ticker, Trevor has never been able to resist an opportunity to fence, defying all the specialists.  The times he has retired from competition are countless.  In April of this year, at the age of 69 (+ ¾ ) years, he competed in the WAFA Epee No 1 to take eighth place against all the young blades.  Surely a fantastic accomplishment, Trevor!

Each year, much to Trevor’s delight/chagrin, he receives the award given to the oldest fencer in the State.  There is no fear of a rival at this stage.  Not for nothing is he a Life Member of both WAFA and Cavaliers!  See you down at the next Club session, Trevor!

(Written by Gillian Kings-Lynne)

NEIL HERZOG – Life Member of WAFA

Fencer Profile for the Cavaliers’ Newsletter   

No Cavs session would be complete without the familiar sight of Neil lugging in large Leon Paul boxes of shiny new equipment, a vision splendid for the brand new would be fencers on the brink of entering that world of fame and conquest on the piste.

Neil is ‘in control’ of all our equipment supplies, a position which seems to have naturally fallen in his direction rather than any great desire on his part to seek it!  As a consequence, Cavaliers is the best equipped Club in town with access to a fair range of goods at reasonable prices.

Neil started fencing at Cavaliers on the hottest day in fencing history, when the committee had to bribe all the newcomers with cans of cold Coke to entice them to come back a second time.  Neil took up the challenge and has been one of the mainstays of the Club ever since.

After only one year of fencing, he undertook a level one Coaching course, joined both the Cavaliers and the WAFA committees, and set off with the merry band of WA fencers who were to try their luck at the Nationals for that year.  A glutton for punishment indeed!

With the experience of a National Competition behind him, Neil took on the position of Tournament Director for WAFA in 1998 and set about establishing a system for WA tournaments which would bring us up to national standard with the use of a computerised ranking system.  For the first time since WAFA was re-established in  1995, all WAFA members have had access to their ranking details at any given time, all rankings have been published and an awards ceremony with the presentation of medals and trophies has been reinstated.

(Written by Gillian Kings-Lynne)  (Picture taken 2013)

Brief Profile of Neil Herzog.  (Written for local newspaper article)

Club: ECU Cavalier School of Fencing in Mt Lawley, Western Australia

Marriage:  Neil Herzog and Ivette Kuijpers

Neil Current:

Neil is a Director with the Board of the Australian Fencing Federation. 

His responsibilities include the drawing up of policies for national fencing, which ultimately affect all fencers in each State.

There are enormous ongoing benefits for WAFA from Neil’s commitment to Australian fencing – not only in the practical work involved, but also for the rich gathering of interstate contacts which has, over recent years, been crucial to the rapid development of fencing in Western Australia to its current position as the ‘Third Fencing State’.

Neil Past:

Neil began fencing in 1996 and immediately fell in love with the sport.  He was a keen competitor in all three weapons (foil, epee and sabre) and was a staunch supporter and tireless worker for the development of the sport in this State both at Club and State level.

During his time as President of the Western Australian Fencing Association, he was responsible for huge achievements in the promotion and recognition of the sport with government authorities and realised the first serious program for government funding.

(Written by Gillian Kings-Lynne 2008)

MIKE MIDDLETON 1950 - 2016 Life member of Cavaliers

Mike joined Cavaliers in 2003 and it wasn’t long before he found himself fully involved in the running of the club with his particular interest focusing on Coaching. He gained his Level 1 Foil Coaching qualification in 2007 and has subsequently specialised in teaching the Beginners’ groups – one of the most important roles in the Club.
Mike was Head Coach for 2010 and 2011 during which time he was responsible for coordinating all coaching groups and maintaining the qualifications of the coaches. During 2012, he took on the role of club representative to the WA Fencing Association where he put in a huge effort to address the issue of the lack of training courses in WA for potential coaches.
In addition he has been a willing volunteer in all aspects of club administrative and social activity. For this reason he received a nomination for the City of Stirling award of Valued Volunteer for 2011. 

SEYMOUR WOLFINGER D'Artagnan - Life member of Cavaliers

In seventeen years of membership, D’artagnan has never lost the true spirit of clubmanship and respect for fencing tradition. He joined Cavaliers in 1998 and instantly set about reviving and maintaining the age-old standards of chivalry and romance properly attributed to thesport, much to the delight of the enthralled members.
He is chiefly known as the originator of the Defenders of the Realm – a mysterious order which bestows upon its members the responsibility of loyalty, honour and protection of the Cavalier fencing fraternity.
In real life, D’artagnan has consistently supported Cavaliers in a very practical way through an administrative and social commitment – notably as Cavs Librarian where he upgraded the collection with a supply of old fencing movies!
Despite a varying range of injuries which now prevent him from fencing competitively, he continues to hold Committee responsibilities and is currently the club representative at WA Fencing Association.  

PETER HARBIN 1933 - 2016 Life member of Cavaliers

Peter has enjoyed a jammed-packed competitive fencing career participating at all levels from Club and State Competition, to National and International events.
It falls naturally that Peter’s main interest lies in fencing opportunities for Veterans. To this end he served three years as Vice President of the WA Fencing Association working for increased promotion of Veteran fencing, particularly through the media.
He has been foremost in encouraging Veteran exchange between South-East Asia and Western Australia and was a team member of the first  Australians to compete at the Japanese Veteran Championships in 2010.
Peter has fenced since his school days in England and his dedication to the sport is testament to the value of long term commitment and to Club spirit through which Cavaliers now benefits.