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When the sun is low and shines through the beautiful stained glass windows of Wincanton parish church, new light is cast on a family’s heartbreak from World War One.

In the towns and villages of England, remembrance comes in many forms; from simple wooden crosses and brass plaques to elaborate statues and vast memorial funds. But the South Somerset town of Wincanton can stake a claim to a unique way of remembering a lost son of the Great War.

One of the windows in the Church of St Peter and St Paul depicts Saint George with his shield in one hand and a sword in the other. A halo encircles his head and not far away lies the dragon which England’s patron saint has successfully slain. In the distance there’s a castle and all around him is lush green foliage. But look a little closer and the face of St George looks strangely out of place; too clean, detailed and modern-looking for a setting like this.

It’s widely thought that the image is in fact the face of George Cash, a member of a prominent local family, who was killed on the Somme in 1916. There would have been few people in Wincanton who weren’t familiar with the Cash family at the time. Successful, wealthy and well-known,

John Cash was an Oxford-educated solicitor, an agent for an insurance company and heavily involved in local charities. His second son, George, went to Clifton College in Bristol and earned a science degree at a Canadian university before returning home and enlisting in September 1914. He joined one of the Public Schools Battalions of the Middlesex Regiment, known as the ‘Die Hards’. These units began as middle class versions of the Pals Battalions, made up of former privately-educated schoolboys. Like many of his contemporaries, George would have qualified to become a commissioned officer but instead preferred to fight alongside his peers as an ‘ordinary’ soldier.

Church-goers in Wincanton always refer to the stained glass depiction of St George as ‘Cash’s window’ and his fate is described on the brass plaque beneath it:

In honour and in loving memory of George Southam Cash. Lance Corporal 16th Battalion; The Middlesex Public Schools Battalion, machine gun section who was killed in action at High Wood in the Battle of the Somme, France 14th July 1916. In the 26th year of his age. Requiescant in pace. This tablet was placed here by his parents John Oliver and Ada Cash and his brother John Newman Cash; Captain, Royal Engineers.

In the same way that innovations like tanks and aircraft changed the way that battles were fought, machine guns were part of the new technology of World War One. George had trained as a machine gunner early in 1916 and by mid-June he had qualified and was back with his regiment on the Western Front. But his new career in charge of the newly arrived automatic weapon was to be cut tragically short.

There’s no longer anyone alive who remembers George Cash. There’s no one left who can describe the way he entered a room, recount the stories of his childhood or recall the sound of his voice. But for as long as Wincanton parish church stands proudly at the heart of this small town, people will forever be familiar with his face.

Location: Church of St Peter & St Paul, Church Street, Wincanton, Somerset, BA9 9AJ
Image: The window in memory of George Cash, courtesy of Anthony Goddard

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