A REVERSED LINE

The Dutch army managed to hold out for five days against German forces, but capitulated shortly after the bombing of Rotterdam. The occupation began and would last five years. In 1944–45, the German army dug in along the Grebbe Line against the Allied forces. This defensive position was known successively as the Pantherstellung and the Grebbestellung. The latter, like the Grebbe Line itself, was once again oriented towards the east.

Top display plate

The top panel displays shell casings from Dutch artillery used along the Grebbe Line. Near Scherpenzeel, the Dutch artillery performed excellently, but at the Grebbeberg the support provided to the entrenched infantry proved insufficient.

Second display plate

Civilians were forbidden from entering the area of the Pantherstellung. Anyone found in this restricted zone without valid papers could be shot on the spot. Even those holding the required exemptions risked having their horses and bicycles requisitioned. To prevent this, additional documentation was necessary. A number of these exemption papers, along with an identity card, are on display in this panel.

Third display plate

This panel displays aerial photographs taken by the RAF. The images show trenches near De Roode Haan (22 January 1945), bomb craters alongside the railway line (23 March 1945), inundations near Bunschoten (15 March 1945), and a modest flooding near Amersfoort (13 April 1945).

Bottom display plate

The base panel holds a rangefinder and a carbine. The latter was not discovered until long after the war, found with a metal detector. The weapon had been buried in the ground by children in 1940.