Dirk Klop

Dirk Klop (17 July 1906 – 9 November 1939) was a Dutch Army intelligence officer who is known for his role in the Venlo incident.

On 9 November 1939, posing as a British Army captain under the assumed name "Coppins", he travelled to the café Backus near the town of Venlo, close to the German border.

In the Buick car with him and Dutch driver Jan Lemmens were two British agents, Captain Sigismund Payne Best and Major Richard Henry Stevens.

[1] Immediately upon arrival a convertible car full of German special agents led by Alfred Naujocks of the Sicherheitsdienst drew up in front of their own vehicle, and one of the occupants opened fire.

[citation needed] Adolf Hitler justified his later invasion of the Netherlands partly by citing the complicity of the Dutch with the British Secret Service that was revealed by this incident.