Piet Touw

Petrus Dirk "Piet" Touw (11 July 1917 – 10 May 1940) was a Dutch corporal in the , a military police unit. He is considered to be the first Dutch military casualty during the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940 at the outset of the Second World War. Touw was killed during an armed confrontation with German soldiers at the in the early morning of 10 May 1940.

Biography Touw was born in Groningen to railway engineer Dirk Touw and Petronella Cornelia Prinsen. He remained unmarried.

In 1940, he served as a corporal in the Korps Politietroepen, a unit responsible for guarding critical infrastructure. A few weeks before the German invasion, Touw wrote a letter to his parents expressing concern about the growing tensions in Europe. In the letter, he stated that he believed Dutch neutrality was no longer sustainable and that he was prepared for a potential armed conflict. He was the first Dutch military fatality of the German invasion. Touw was buried in Maasniel.

Honours In 1946, Touw was posthumously awarded the Bronze Cross for "displaying great courage in preventing an enemy attempt to seize the guard post on the eastern side of the railway bridge at Buggenum on 10 May 1940, during which he was killed" (Royal Decree 9 May 1946, No. 6). His name is inscribed on the .