Evening star., 1961-08-24
BERLIN
Minor Incidents Testing Military Nerves
On Both Sides of Red Borricodes

troll the 25-mile East sector
border.
AT Friedrichstrasse, the Com
Tnunist police sprayed two
American soldiers with a water
GUN on the apparent theory
they felt they we're too close.
The Reds shut the water off
when one of the American
reached for a grenade. Later
American officers handed out
tear gas grenadeS.
Members of the Allied gar
risons are under orders not to
show their identity papers to
East Germans. They are sup
posed to call for a Soviet Of
ficer if challenged.
=. No Women on Trip
The sightseeing bus tours
through the city-including the
East sector-have been a fea-
ture of United States Army life
here fo~ years.
eToday's trip was different in
that no women or children were
along. The passengers were
largely soldiers in uniform,
evidently picked to make the
test.
For the moment the Allies
accept the single crossing point.
The Russians, have used Fried
richstrasSe. too. Two officers
came over yesterday. They went
to the four-power Spandau
prison where relics of the
Nuremberg trialS-Rudolf Hess,
Albert Speer and Baldur Won
Schirach-are the only occu-
pants of a Jail built for 600 two
generations ago.
., The crisis was heightened by
the Soviet charge that the
Western Allies are abusing use
of their air corridors to Berlin
byferrying West German agents
into West Berlin.
"A specific target Of Soviet
notes to the United States, |
Britain and France was West
Germany'S alderman affairs
minister, Ernst Lemmer. The |
Russians said Mr.. Lemmer has |
set up a Berlin headquarters |
directing subversion against
East Germany and other Com
munist nations.
Rejection Predicted
Chancellor Konrad Adenauer,
in a gesture of defiance. di-
rected Mr.. Lemmer to remain
in Berlin. The Bonn govern
ment announced he will cancel
all appearances he had sched-
uled in West Germany in con-
neetion with the parliamentary
election September II.
West Berlin Mayor Willy
Brandt predicted the Western
Allies will emphatically reject
the Soviet charges.
He said the Russians are
trying to do two things:
4. Throw doubt on the right
Of the allies to fly into Berlin
a. right never questioned even
during the blockade of 1948-9.
2. Drive a wedge between
West Berlin and West Germany.
The Friedrichtrasse brush
illustrated the resolve of the
Western allies to make a mill
tary show at every point where
Communists tamper with the
border.
Tank Stands Guard
A United States Patton tank
stood guard there. A crowd
of about 300 curious West Ber-
liners milled about.
The Communist water-armed
armored car moved up after
Western cameramen closed in
to photograph the East Berlin
scene and ignored Red police
mans signal to move back. The
water gun did a bit of spraying
nothing too serious. But at
that point the American troops
were issued the grenadeS. (
For the second time this
week British troops were called
out for an early morning prac-
tice alert. One company of the
Welsh regiment, accompanied
by three Centurion tanks and
three armored cars, made a
foray to the industrial district
Of SiemensStadt. /
d, They set up anti-tank guns
and mortars and roadblocks
but let civilians on their way to
work pass. The practice lasted ,
three hours. (
Troops Along Barricades
American, British and French
troops faced East German {
forces along the barricadeS all
night. They had been rushed
into position yesterday after
the Communists warned all
West BerlinerS to stay 328 feet
400 meters) back from the
border "in the interests of their
own safety" l.
With their weapons at the
ready, the allied troops pa
trolled the tense border area
close to the concrete walls and
barbed wire fences set up by /
the Reds to prevent East Ger
mans from escaping westward.
Moscow radio said the Allied
patrolling amounted to mill
tary provocaCion. But there
were no incidents involving the
Allied troops.
West Berlin police said Com
munist border guards at one
crossing point in the United
States sector threw four tear
gas bombs at 40 West Berlin .
Eouths listening to a news