World: The Wall: Defecting Guards

To reduce the opportunity for escape to the West, East German guards at the Wall are required to patrol in pairs. Last week, however, a 19-year-old corporal grabbed his companion’s carbine and pulled out the firing mechanism. As his astonished comrade watched helplessly, the young East German gingerly made his way over tank traps, trip wires, and a 10-ft. spiked fence to freedom in the British sector of West Berlin. He was the 2,183rd uniformed East German to defect since the erection of the Wall in 1961.