I occasionally return here and had forgotten posting this seven years ago. The research has progressed and to date I cannot identify any American military role in Setif during these events. Instead I have found there was a small RAF base nearby, guarded by a company from a South African Air Force infantry battalion - whose commander witnessed the start of the mayhem. If you are interested a lot of the research is on a WW2 military history website: http://www.ww2talk.com/index.php?thr...1/#post-967055