Evening star., 1961-10-30

autobahn lifeline without hin
drance from the Russians, who
stopped two American vehicles
yesterday.
The United States command
in Berlin described the move
ment as a redeployment. 1t
said the departing units will
be replaced shortly by a COM
pany Of engineers. leaving the
Berlin garrison at 6,500-man
strength.
The movement actually got
under way yesterday, the Army
disclosed, even as the Russians
barred two United States mill
tary assistance vehicles from
entering the autobahn from
Berlin at the Babelsberg check
point. A third assistance vehicle
later was allowed to proceed.
Returning to Manhattan
The unit now moving out is
Company D, 18th Engineer
Battalion. 1t is going back to
its home station at Mannheim,
West Germany.
The company was rushed to
Berlin August 20, with the First
Battle group, 18th Infantry, on
President Kennedy's order to
reinforce the garrison here. 1t
is commanded by Capt. Thomas
A. Schwartz of Baltimore.
The replacement unit is
Company A, of goth Engineer
Battalion, which is arriving
from the United States. 1t is
one of the regular Army units
being sent to reinforce the
United States Army in Europe.
1t is commanded by Capt. Will
liam E. Walker of Pittsburgh.
Calculated Red Move
Later in the day, West Berlin
police said two other United
States aid vehicles were stopped
during the night. The United
States Army would neither con-
firm nor deny the report.
An American spokesman said
the army will continue to send
the aid cars out despite the
Russian objection.
Western officials speculated
that the Soviet action in stop
ping two cars while allowing a
third to pass might be a cal
culated move. They thought
the Soviets might be reassert-
ing objections they first made
in 1928 to American patrols
on the autobahn without Gre
atlng a dangerous new East
West incident. BY a 1858 agree
ment the Soviet Army admitted
responsibility for security on
the highway.
BY halting the assistance We
hicles altogether. the Russians
could have provoked the United
States Army into another show
of force to safeguard the al
lied rights in Berlin.
The last show OF force end
ed in an informal truce Satur-
day after American and Soviet
tanks had Stood on either side
of the Berlin wall at the Fried
.richstrasse crossing point for
Is hours with their guns trained
at point-blank range.
GrOmykO Meeting Sought
The tanks were rushed up
after four United States armed
thrusts into East Berlin dur
ing the week to uphold the
right Of American civilian Of
ficials to cross the border with
out submitting identity papers
to East German police.
The Soviet tanks withdrew
Saturday morning to an en-
campment in a war-ruined pal
ace on Unter Den Linden. The
American PattonS set up tempo
rary positions near the far end
Of Friedrichstrasse.
With the most forward ar
mored units of both sides some
1000 yards apart, the Berlin
tension eased and attention
shifted to the diplomatic level.
/ LLewllyn E. Thompson, jr.,
the United States ambassador
in Moscow, was to seek a sec
ond meeting with Soviet Foreign
Minister Andrei Gromyko to-
day or tomorrow to press Allied
demands for an end to the
| Communist attempts to restrict
Allied rights in Berlin. Their
first meeting Friday was de-
scribed as unsatisfactory" by
State Department Press Officer
| Lincoln White.
| No American official would
say that the United States has
decided to stop its armed in
cursions into East Berlin while
Mr.. Thompson and Mr.. Gro
myko are talking. But there
were insistent reports that
such a decision had been taken
at a very high level, provided
the East Germans refrained
from any new harassment of
Allied movement through their
concrete and barbed wire
wall through the city.
Civilians Stay Out
The United States command,
meanwhile, has ordered its
civilian officials not to enter
East Berlin for the time being
The East German Reds still
allow Allied military personnel
in uniform to cross the border
unchecked. American, British