As discipline and living conditions in the Bat' d'Af' were extremely harsh, "Bataillonnaires", colloquially named "Zéphyrs" or "Joyeux" ("Joyous ones"), usually nicknamed their unit "l'Enfer" ("the Hell") or, ironically, "Biribi" (a game of chance of that period). However, they fought credibly in the Crimean war plus the Mexican Intervention; and won honours during the First World War and in the various colonial wars. They also assumed the role of construction troops, building not only desert forts but also roads and bridges.