Deleplanque immediately telephoned the captain of the gendarmerie in Batna, ordering a state of alert for all units. Next he telephoned Army headquarters, but here there was an aggravating delay while a sleepy colonel (the same who had recently claimed never to have seen a fellagha in front of his jeep) at first insisted on receiving written orders “through the proper channels”.

QUESTION: This tension between orders and interpretation in colonial violence raises wider questions about how command ambiguity functions in asymmetric conflicts. The precise historical context of this Algerian example invites further research.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 267