apache+ssl, appends internal SSL port number with no trailing slash - broken link

Hello all.  Thanks in advance for your expertise.

Details:

Centos 4.4
httpd-2.0.52-28.ent.centos4
openssl-0.9.7a-43.16
mod_ssl-2.0.52-28.ent.centos4


Problem:

Apache listens for SSL traffic internally on port 55106.
The gateway(keepalived/IPtables) forwards all external SSL requests  
from externalIP:443 to internalIP:55106.

This works fine, except when a directory is called WITHOUT a trailing  
slash.

IE:

secure/ is a directory that contains only a one line index.html file.

https://www.example.com:443/secure/  - works fine and reads index.html.
https://www.example.com:443/secure - doesnt work, and the URL gets  
redirected to https:/www.example.com:55106/secure!!

Port 55106 is not accessible externally. Is apache assuming more than  
it should about network configuration?  And most importantly, how can  
I stop this from happening?

I've disabled all SSL related rewrites.   I have also changed the  
internal SSL port number in the virtualhost config and sure enough, I  
am redirected to the new port number mysteriously by apache when the  
URL has no trailing slash...so it is definitely  something that  
happens dynamically based on the internal SSL port number that is  
defined within the virtual host.

I realize I could just rewrite a trailing slash, but this problem is  
much more far reaching that the simplified example I provided.   
Ideally I would like a solution that would apply to all instances of  
this problem across multiple directories and multiple sites.

Thanks,
James

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