Bridal Portrait of Polly Ann Billington and Dr. George Roulhac
Mosquito Netting Wedding Dress & Veil
Gift of the Roulhac Family in Memory of Polly Ann Billington Roulhac, 2011.034.001
Wedding gown worn by Polly Ann Billington for her marriage to George Roulhac in Oran, North Africa on 2 October 1943. Polly Billington went overseas to England with the American Red Cross in October 1942. On the ship over, she encountered an acquaintance, Dr. George Roulhac. After dates in England and their coincidental transfer to North Africa, the two decided, with Polly's parents' blessing, to put in for permission to get married. A French seamstress fashioned a wedding dress and matching veil from surplus mosquito netting used in the hospital. Polly and George were married at the Red Cross Club in Oran on October 2, 1943; the bride was given away by the 21st General Hospital's commanding officer, Dr. Lee Cady, who recorded in his diary that Polly's mosquito netting dress, "with the other floral and palm frond decorations made it all appear much like a beautiful marriage ceremony would be back home." The couple honeymooned in Fes, Morocco. Polly and George were married for more than forty years and raised five daughters together.
