the suspected German positions, gradually bringing down the density of fire, which finally ceased shortly before dawn. The German command was quite under awe by this show of presence and had anticipated heavy fighting in the morning, but much to their surprise found the Dutch trenches deserted by morning. Behind the masquerade of the barrages the entire defence had moved back overnight. Pursued came much too late to overtake any Dutch formation before it had reached the next defences. Directly after the cessation of hostilities a large war cemetery was established on top of the Grebbeberg. German and Dutch victims of the battle were the first to be buried at this location, but during the war the Germans would use and extend this burial ground further as their death toll rose. After the war the Dutch reburied the German victims on the summary German field of honour in Ysselsteyn, where over 30,000 Germans were buried. The Grebbeberg war cemetery now holds around 800 Dutch victims of the May War in 1940, as well as a few of later (wartime) date. The Grebbe line was permanently decommissioned by the Dutch Government in 1951. Pantherstellung During the war, the Germans made use of the Grebbe Line to create their own defence line, the Pantherstellung. On 26 October 1944 General Walter Model initiated the building of the Pantherstellung. At the time, it was clear that the enemy would come from not the west but the south. The Germans wanted to protect the Holland region because of the V-2 rocket attacks on London. The Germans did not want to lose the ability to fire the rockets but wanted to prevent the Allies from reaching the IJsselmeer. The Germans had to make some changes to the design because the threat was expected from the south. From Veenendaal to Amersfoort, the defence line had the same configuration as the Grebbe Line. See also Dutch waterlines Defence Line of Amsterdam Hollandic Water Line IJssel Line Maas Line Peel-Raam Line Other Defence lines of the Netherlands References Grebbelinie website Website commemorating the World War II Battle of the Grebbeberg War over Holland (in English) Military history of the Netherlands World War II defensive lines Netherlands in World War II World War II sites in the Netherlands History of Gelderland History of Utrecht (province)