Colorized Legion Photographs

Not a big post today, just two of my favorite colorized pictures of Legionnaires that I came across on the internet–from Corbis Images.  Both show the legionnaires involved in some mundane garrison duties.  The first picture shows some legionnaires cooking up something interesting in the kitchen.  If this was Sidi Bel Abbes the fresh provisions were pretty comparable to that found in France.  Old maps of this city depict numerous gardens surrounding the casernes and running right up to the old wall of the city.   Potatoes, leeks and squash aplenty.  The second picture depicts legionnaires working on the roads.  This was a form of public works, known as corvée.  It was sometimes backbreaking work and often the cause for desertion.  It seems only the Legion and the Le Joyeux (penal Infantry Battalions) were put to work in this manner.  One for punishment and the other so that they do not remain idle and get into trouble.