A STRANGE ENCOUNTER ON “THE DEVILS HIGHWAY”

The author, Mrs. Primm, with son, David. She passed away at the age of 96 in 2002 shortly after this photo.

The date was December 27, 1952, and the time was 11:30 PM. Staff Sergeant David E Primm had spent a very pleasant day in Vienna, Austria and was preparing to drive his recently acquired MG back to Tulln Air Force Base. The route went along a 21 mile corridor called “The Devils Highway”. This highway went through Russian territory. The Russians were noted for stopping military personnel for their own reasons and one could be in serious trouble at such times. There were reports that over the years there were some that had been stopped and never heard from again and no one knew what had happened to them. For that reason when anyone wanted to go to Vienna or from Vienna to the Base they had to stop at a checkpoint at the Base and the other at Vienna. Officials at either end knew how much time it took to drive the corridor and knew each time someone would check out and if they didn’t arrive at the other end in the time allotted patrols went out in search of them.

To fully understand the following sequence of exciting and hair-raising experiences one needs to know something about the area in which this amazing event took place.

The city of Vienna was four-powered controlled by The United States, England, Russia, and France. Each power would control the city for a one-month period, rotation fashion. There would be the changing of the guard’s ceremony each month. Vienna was also split into four sections, each power having their own. There was only one road from Vienna to the Air Base. Travel was banned from midnight to 6 AM. There was also a train from the Base to Vienna. Tulln was ninety miles inside the Soviet Zone of Austria. A wire mesh fence called “The Iron Curtain” marked its borders. This separated the American airmen from the Soviet soldiers.

On the base itself, gutted skeletons of buildings rose along side the renovated structures in which the Tulln men lived, worked and played. German demolition experts did their task well when the Nazis evacuated in 1945. The Soviet guns on the Danube River shelled the remnants. After the Russians took over the Luftwaffe struck with firebombs. From July 1945 the U.S. Air Force had maintained the island-like post as an Aerial port of entry.

 The Tulln Air Base mission was chiefly to serve the needs of the State Department in Vienna and the American Embassy’s in the Balkans. It was the only U.S. Air Force Base entirely surrounded by Soviet occupied territory. In 1952 there were 200 men on the Base and there was a strong feeling of comrade-ship and loyalty among the men. Like his predecessors, Colonel Loren Cornell, Base Commander had one ever-present problem, “The feeling of the men that they were tied up there”. To combat this, Colonel Cornell supported a liberal pass policy and encouraged the men to see such memorable events in Vienna as the Changing of the Guards when snapshots of the Russian soldiers were permitted.

In 1946 the Airmen’s Club, known as “The Den of Iniquity”, had a couple of wooden chairs and a table. There was soon a splendid bar, 21 tables to seat 110 persons and a dance floor. A band came in five days a week. Officers had their own Club, referred to as, “Super Den of Iniquity”. There was a popular off-duty center called the Tulln Terrace Club. Here an Airman can make use of a four-lane bowling alley, pool tables, Ping-Pong tables and a library. Now that we know something of where we are, the tale of the adventures of a certain Staff Sergeant can continue.

Remember that these events took place almost forty years ago and tensions were often at the breaking point in the four-power occupation of Vienna. One can now have a better understanding of the vicissitudes and trials of one Staff Sergeant Primm as he prepares to leave Vienna and wind his precarious passage through “The Devil’s Highway”. A Russian Naval Barracks was situated on the Danube River about halfway down the road that led from Vienna to Tulln Air Base---truly “The Devil’s Highway”. This Russian base held an uncanny fascination for this particular adventurer. His main ambition was to drive in and greet the Russian soldiers. The corner of the base jutted out to the edge of the road, making easy entry. As David left the checkpoint at Vienna the old urge to visit the Russian base surged over him. Excuse after excuse as the pros and cons of stopping flooded his thoughts. As he drew nearer and nearer to the base many convincing ideas surged through his head.

David and his MG who wished the Russians Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Suddenly like a clap of thunder, he knew exactly that he would stop and how he would greet them was an all-win super move. With a smug smile on his face and joyous anticipation of the fact that he was about to fulfill an idea that he had in his mind for a long time, he drove on, ready and willing for the encounter about to take place. Since it was forbidden to stop anywhere on the road between Vienna and the Base, S/Sgt. Primm’s next move could have had very serious consequences for him and his superiors.

The Russian Naval barracks, which were a mile out into the Russian territory, loomed in view. Our hero was soon at the entrance and confidently swung into the driveway and onto the area in front of the building. Immediately a Russian guard came charging out of the barracks and fired a shot into the air. This summoned other guards who soon surrounded him and his car. This was all that was needed to bring David back to his senses.

He said to himself, “Oh, oh now I’ve done it but too late now. Hope I get out of this with my skin, at least. Oh, woe is me.” Before he knew it the Russian soldiers were running all over the place and around the car and by now he was one plain scared person who wished he were anywhere but in his present situation. To add to his ever mounting woes, he couldn’t speak Russian and these sons of the Soviet Union couldn’t speak any English. All was confusion and a strange babbling, confused and excited, from the Russians. They scurried around like disturbed ants but surprisingly, from this wild uncoordinated mess one of them had managed to summon help.

Some Austrian Police came in a jeep with another Russian and a woman. A futile attempt was made by speaking in German to David. He knew a few words so was able to make a wild guess as to what they were asking him. This was the big moment for he figured out that they were asking him to tell them why he stopped there.

By this time he was really scared and his mind was so muddled he could scarcely think. But out of his messed up thinking the remembrance that is was between Christmas and New Year’s flashed through his mind and forcing a friendly smile he replied, “To wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”.  Stunned surprises and amazement showed on their faces. They were speechless, even in their languages. Upon recovering from a shocked silence, they persuaded David into going to Russian Headquarters or a police station.

A Russian Officer got into David’s car and they drove to Headquarters. He tried to use a phone but they told him to wait a minute. Russian soldiers surrounded him and a Russian Officer came in and questioned him. David could only catch a few words but in spite of that he would only give his name, rank and serial number, the usual procedure in situations like this.  They wanted him to sign a paper, which he refused, which enraged the Russian Officer.

David’s apprehensions mounted by the minute and he was ready to concede to himself that he had made a terrible mistake, but at that tense moment they got him to understand that he was to come with them. But all was not well. With difficulty he maintained a very, he hoped, military attitude. Inside he was a mass of quaking jelly. An Austrian policeman, who helped allay some of his anxiety, got into the car beside him. A jeep full of Russian soldiers, armed to the teeth with burp guns, led the way. In the rear followed another Russian jeep, with well-armed soldiers and civilian dressed people.

Having no idea as to his destination this impressive parade moved out on the road. Never did S/Sgt. David Primm know what deliverance meant until he saw the border point appear. But he knew he still wasn’t out of the woods. New fears assailed him. He had to face the U.S. Commander. Thoughts of court martial, dismissal from the Air Force in disgrace, etc. blocked his mind.

David had no idea where they were headed for, but they eventually stopped at the demarcation line between the Russian Zone and the American Zone. To quote our eminent Staff Sergeant “On the Russian side were the Russians and me, and on the American side the representatives of all four powers in, probably, at least four vehicles. This was just like you see in the movies.

The Russian Officer wanted me to sign a paper, which I didn’t want to do since I could not read it. The American Military Policeman said, “Sign it or you will not be released”. I signed and then was turned over to the American Military Police with great relief.”

But, hold it; this isn’t the end of the story. Quote, by Primm, “This was 0200 hours in the morning of the 28^th. I was thankful to get back into American hands with my car”.

As he went into the Base Commanders presence the commander fixed a stony stare on David and asked. “Where the hell have you been”? At this juncture David found out that a passenger on a bus passing by the barracks saw him stop and the Russians surround him and this man reported him to the base. Said personnel had been up all night trying to locate the errant serviceman, which involved the CID (Civilian Investigation Division), plus MP’s (Military Policemen) and a half dozen other agencies. Were they happy to see this miscreant who really was in a worse situation than he could know? The answer is Yes and No. Yes because he was one of them and they wanted to get him to safety. No because they were as mad as disturbed hornets because he kept them up all night looking for him. The MPIS (Military Police Investigation Service) questioned him until about 0630 as to what happened and why he stopped. It finally was all sorted out and everyone rejoiced, that in spite of the fact that they were put out by their Staff Sergeant’s ill-conceived plan to greet the Russians during particular holiday. All was forgiven. He had been returned safe and sound.

David was in line for what he feared, court martial, demotion, and dismissal from the service in disgrace. His compatriots seized upon this occasion to keep him on pins and needles by telling him of all the penalties he would have to face. David bought a Court Martial Manual which he was positive was bound to occur, but all the charges were dropped and all of the hullabaloo ceased as time went on. At the present time his Court Martial Manual is in his parent’s bookcase and his mother relives those tense times whenever she sees the book.

You hear very little of this time in history when the four nations, France, England, United States and Russia were a four-power control of Vienna. Each controlled a fourth of the city and also four zones of Austria. In October 1955, Austria was given back its independence. This was done with pressure on the Russians by the other three powers. Austria was the only country ever occupied by the Russians after World War II that got their independence back before the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

This critical area in critical times served a very important service in International Affairs in the years that followed.

And so we come to the end of a chapter so vital in a world of amazing changes and Crises.