Dating back to his early days in Canada, Doug’s father was involved in horse racing. In Perth they had success with many horses, most notably the 1932 Easter Cup win with Dainty Princess. There were hard times and some bad accidents for father Walter. Doug has some betting wins and after the war was a ‘betting clerk’ for a friend.

The Cash family moves to Adelaide, driving through Canberra and Melbourne in their Ford Model T. Their first permanent home was in Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town and they later moved to Norwood where they took over a shop and then to Unley and a new business venture, a laundry shop. Walter continued at Maytag/Eureka until the Depression hit. Family decides to sell up and move to Melbourne in 1930, living in Northcote until the decision was made to move to Western Australia on the MV Westralia.

The Cash family arrives in Sydney, Australia aboard the SS Niagara. Over the next six years they lived in Liverpool before moving to Enmore, Darlinghurst and Lewisham. During this time, Doug’s dad worked for Maytag/Eureka and Doug commenced his schooling including attending Darlinghurst Public School.