World War II
In 1939 the disused line was once again fortified against a German attack on the Netherlands, but due to cost and skills issues (soldiers were used as labourers) the earthworks were not well-constructed. In the original plans the line would fulfill its ancient task as a forward defensive line of the Water line. At the last moment however, in February 1940 the new Dutch commander in chief General Henri Winkelman, decided to make the Grebbe line the main defensive line in the central sector of the Dutch defences. The Dutch Water line was deemed less useful as the modern German field artillery could reach the main cities Utrecht and Amsterdam from their positions opposing the defences.
Meanwhile, the Germans were aware of the line and of its outline. Before the war German spies had regularly visited the zoo at Rhenen using its lookout tower to map the defences there. When the Germans attacked in May 1940, the Dutch army managed to defend the Grebbe line for three consecutive days, much to the surprise of the Germans. The Battle of the Grebbeberg saw the fiercest fighting in those few days, during which 420 Dutch and around 250 German soldiers were killed.
Directly after the cessation of hostilities a war cemetery was established at the Grebbeberg location by the German authorities.
The Grebbe line was permanently decommissioned by the Dutch Government in 1951.
Read more about this topic: Grebbe Line
Famous quotes containing the words world and/or war:
“For in all the world there are no people so piteous and forlorn as those who are forced to eat the bitter bread of dependency in their old age, and find how steep are the stairs of another mans house. Wherever they go they know themselves unwelcome. Wherever they are, they feel themselves a burden. There is no humiliation of the spirit they are not forced to endure. Their hearts are scarred all over with the stabs from cruel and callous speeches.”
—Dorothy Dix (18611951)
“War talk by men who have been in a war is always interesting; whereas moon talk by a poet who has not been in the moon is likely to be dull.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (18351910)