The Necessary War, Volume 1: Canadians Fighting The Second World War:1939-1943

by Tim Cook

The definitive account of Canadians fighting in the Second World War written by Canada's premier military historian
     Tim Cook, Canada's leading war historian, ventures deep into the Second World War in this epic two-volume story of heroism and horror, loss and longing, and sacrifice and endurance.
     Written in Cook's compelling narrative style, this book shows in impressive detail how soldiers, airmen, and sailors fought--the evolving tactics, weapons of war, logistics, and technology. He also examines the war as an engine of transformation for Canada. With a population of fewer than twelve million, Canada embraced its role as an arsenal of democracy, exporting war supplies, feeding its allies, and raising a million-strong armed forces that served and fought in nearly every theatre of war. The six-year-long exertion caused disruption, provoked nationwide industrialization, ushered in changes to gender roles, exacerbated the tension between English and French, and forged a new sense of Canadian identity. It showed that Canadians were willing to bear almost any burden and to pay the ultimate price in the pursuit of victory.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Canada, World War II, War, Military Fiction

536 pages, Paperback

First published September 9, 2014

About the author

Tim Cook (1971 in Kingston - October 26, 2025) was a Canadian military historian and author.
Dr. Tim Cook was the Chief Historian & Director of Research at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, and a part-time history professor at Carleton University. He has also published several books about the military history of Canada during World War I.

Dr. Cook is a member of the Order of Canada.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Cook...

Reviews

[Alan Bowker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Cook has done it again. His two-volume set on the Great War, and his books on Hughes and Currie, Borden and King, have established him as Canada’s leading military historian, and his new book, the first of two volumes on the Second World War, fully lives up to his previous standard.
It is exhaustive in its research and meticulous in attention to detail, yet vivid and readable, avoiding the bloodless prose of official histories. His focus is always on the men and women braving danger, fighting fear, enduring hardship, dealing death and suffering horrible fates, while trying to retain their humanity, keep their nerve, and see it through. Whether as bomber crews in the dark over Germany, corvette crews or merchant seamen facing icy death in the North Atlantic, commandos being slaughtered on the beaches of Dieppe, or infantrymen slogging through the heat and dust of Sicily and Italy to the final hell or Ortona, these men and women displayed courage and fortitude that were, in the end, the true measure of the Canadian war effort.
No one has ever quite brought war to life the way Cook does, drawing on the memoirs and letters of those who took part, while also painting the broader strategic picture and making shrewd judgements on the skill of commanders and the efficacy of their strategy. There is failure and tragedy here aplenty, and triumph as well. He does not shy away from the crucial reality that “war is about combat and death.” No one reading these pages would ever love war, or be eager to fight in one.
Yet the men at the sharp end did fight, endure, sacrifice – yes, and kill -- because their cause was just, and because, well, getting the job done is what Canadians do. To them we owe a debt that can never be repaid. Cook’s riveting prose helps us remember them as they would have wished to be remembered, as ordinary people who did what no one should ever be asked to do. In his pages they live again for a new generation, as real men and women, not as names on a wall or as cliches embalmed in the pallid ceremonies of Remembrance Day.

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've spent the majority of the last six weeks ensconced in Tim Cook's fantastic duology on Canada's involvement in World War One and so I was thinking I would need a break or a palate cleanser before delving into his duology on Canada's involvement in World War Two. As one might expect, reading about those poor soldiers in The Great War as they continually charged trenches, dealt with constant death, mud and artillery bombardment was starting to feel repetitive. This is by no means a reflection on Cook's work. No, quite the contrary. Those books are some of the best history I've ever read. Rather I was worried I was feeling a bit of fatigue on the subject.

But I decided to delve into this next book (it is after all the next one up on my To-Read list). I am so glad I did. This book is vastly different than Cook's duology on WWI, and I supposed that's because WWII is a vastly different war and Canada's role within was vastly different. A lot of this book (which focuses on 1939-1943) focuses on the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy. I found this to be extremely interesting because my knowledge was admittedly lacking in this area. Cook does an incredible job of describing what life was like for Canadian airmen and sailor (life aboard a warship would have sucked). The the last roughly quarter of the book, the Canadian Army gets the focus as the Invasions of Sicily and Italy take place and the 1st Canadian Division takes part. Extremely interesting stuff here too.

As I have been working my way through Tim Cook's excellent books this fall, I learned he passed away in Oct. 2025 at age 54. I was upset to learn this because not only was he taken from family and friends much too young, but Canada lost, what I think, was it's pre-eminent military historian. The books I've read so far have been enlightening, interesting and have filled me with pride. Pride in my country and pride in the men who went overseas to fight and die for the freedom we enjoy today. So rest easy Mr. Cook and thank you for giving us a wealth of historical research.

I can't recommend this book enough. 6/5

[Suzanne Arcand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve just finished the second of Tim Cook’s books on the role of Canadians in World War II. This review covers both volumes “The Necessary War: 1939–1943” and Fight to the Finish: Canadians in the Second World War, 1944-1945.

Thru these books, I’ve gained a new appreciation of the part the Canadian fighters played. I had read on the Nazis, the holocaust, the Resistance, the generals and the politicians who called the shot but not on the soldiers who actually won the war. Some movies— “Memphis Belle” and “Saving Private Ryan” come to mind—have given me an inkling of what it was like at the front but those films always show us very circumscribed events. They do not begin to tell us what it must have been like to risk your life for years on end and see your friends blown to smithereens beside you. And none of these movies or books ever presents us the Canadian point of view.

Last fall, my spouse and I went to the International Festival of Authors in Toronto. Tim Cook was on the panel of one of the presentations we attended. After the show, there was a singing session and Daniel bought the first book of the series “The Necessary War”. He finished it, wanted to continue on to the next one and told me that I would like it. I’m glad he did. These two books are necessary reading for all Canadians. I realized how little I knew about the Second World War. I could have told you some major events and could have made an attempt at sorting them in chronological order, but the result would have been a poor skeleton on which most of the bones would have been missing. These books filled the gap. Now I can say on which front the Canadians have battled and when. The author does a very good job by both showing us the big picture and by giving us the small details to remind us that the war was fought by human beings.

The first book covers at length the Battle for the Atlantic. I had heard anecdotal stories of U-boat creeping up the St-Lawrence but knew nothing about the building of the Canadian fleet, the sacrifice of our navy to ensure a safe passage to cargo ships resupplying England and the lives lost in the cold Atlantic by both our marine (1,990) and the Merchant Navy (1,629).

I remembered that Canadian had fought in Italy but I always saw that front as a comedy almost with the Italian playing the buffoons. I didn’t understand how the German defended every kilometre of land. I was as ignorant as Lady Astor (the first woman to sit as an MP in the British House of Common), who suggested that the soldiers who were in Italy had dodged their duty by not fighting in Normandy; I had never heard of our victory at Ortona and didn’t know that 5,399 Canadians were killed and 19,486 wounded during the Italian campaign.
Everybody knows—or should know—that D-Day was on June 6, 1944, but very few people understand that the battle for Normandy lasted 77 days.

And who, among civilians, have heard about the Battle of the Scheldt where the Canadian fought in Netherlands to open the port of Antwerp and free the starving Dutch to whom they are heroes to this day.

Tim Cook, a military historian at the Canadian War Museum, combines amazing research with quotes taken from letters written by the soldiers at the front. With this book he gives a voice to those young men whose voice was silenced forever. He shows respect by always naming them in full, giving their rank and the unit in which they serve. He is a one man cheering section for the Canadian who fought bravely to preserve our liberty and rid the world of evil. He is never neutral but is overtly on the side of the sailors, the bomber crew and the infantrymen to whom we owe everything.

His book doesn’t end with the peace treaty but follows the veterans thru the present time, regretting that not more has been done to remember their huge sacrifice. He is visibly angry about the poor treatment of the First Nations soldiers who were not informed of the many options open to them and on how the merchant seamen were cheated.

These books left me with many regrets; that they were published too late for most veterans to read them; that I have been ungrateful all to the soldiers who, by their sacrifice, allowed me to lead a peaceful and safe life in a free country. To quote Major A. J. Hamilton, who served with the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders, “...we worry whether our children are taught the price for the freedom they take for granted. “ I not forget and pay my dues by visiting Ottawa’s war museum this year.

[Colin Garnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent from cover to cover. Tim Cook takes up right where he left off with At the Sharp End and Shock Troops, and delivers another invaluable account of Canadians at war. The genius of how Cook writes is he seamlessly blends scope and context so that the reader is both transfixed by the vibrant storytelling, as well as effortlessly brought through the complex events of the Battle of the Atlantic, the Italian Campaign, the war at home, and everywhere in between. This funnel effect to Cook’s writing is best exemplified in his vivid account of the Battle of the Atlantic. The reader is carefully led through first the political and strategic implications of this titanic struggle, with grand goals and intimate discussions between admirals and political leaders being the focus, and then is brought down through successive layers of command until the gunner’s story from the deck of a wave-lashed Corvette is told. That is the magic of Tim Cook’s writing, where seamlessly the reader is informed of all levels of the story, from grand strategy right down to squad-level tactics – all brought to life by individual stories of regular Canadians doing their part in a gigantic war. The scholarship of this work, as is typical for Cook, is exemplary. For the historian reader, one will be pleased to see that Tim Cook backs his analysis with ample archival and secondary research. The breadth of material consulted for this book will impress any discerning historian. Serious analysis and criticism, as featured in Cook’s discussion of the Bombing Campaign in Europe, or the failed raid at Dieppe, is balanced with occasional gems of wit and humour exemplifying the human side of the war. From describing the Canadian Navy as a bunch of “pirates” who wear their hockey jerseys instead of uniforms, to a detailed discussion on pranks undertaken and songs sung of soldiers on leave, to the complex rituals Canadian Lancaster crews underwent before going out on a mission, Tim Cook brings the Second World War to life. Few other authors would have taken the effort to describe the sheer terror a Lancaster crewman experienced, thousands of meters above enemy territory, as they attempted to answer a call to nature with their posterior bare for enemy flak to shoot off. My favourite anecdote concerns the relationship between a Canadian and his British hosts, where the lady of the house complained in a letter that “A Canadian soldier on leave has visited my home, as a result, both my daughter and I are pregnant. Not that we hold it against your soldier, but the last time he was here he took my daughter’s bicycle which she needs to go to work.” It is these little gems that bring the war to life for the reader, as well as Cook’s exemplary analysis of weapon systems and tactics on the battlefield. If you are at all a student of war, a casual reader of the era, or know someone who would enjoy an excellent account of the Canadians during the Second World War, you would be best served by picking up this book. I cant wait for volume two, which is coming out soon. Tim Cook has once again proved why he is regarded as one of the best historians of the current era. Highly recommended.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

My fifth Tim Cook book. I got it out of the library the day before everything closed down for COVID-19, thinking it would be a good opportunity to read another great history book. This was everything I hoped. It covered Canadians involvement in the Second World War from 1939 up to 1943 and the Italian campaign. Specially the Battle of Britain, Hong Kong, the Battle of the Atlantic, the bombing campaign, Dieppe, Sicily and the Italian campaign. But this wasn’t a dry history of events. Instead it draws upon all sorts of personal documentation to bring the war to life. There are full chapters devoted to life on a Corvette and being in bomber command. Life on corvettes was not good, plus it was 99% boredom with 1% terror. The RCN was not especially effective in the U-boat war and Tim Cook’s explanation gave me the reasons. The Corvettes themselves were actually slower than U-boats, and the RN would never share its up to date technology. Plus it took time to learn how to combat U-boats.

When I finished this, I was looking forward to the libraries opening and being able to get book two. However in checking my Goodreads I see I *already* read book two back in 2017. Darn.

I highly recommend anything by Tim Cook if you want the Canadian involvement. His two books on the First World War are superb.

[Don Halpert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Cook is a Historian who works at the Canadian Military Museum in Ottawa. He has written several books about Canadians in WW1 and WW2. This book is a superb history of Canadians at war.
Cook had access to interviews, letters, diaries and reports of individual Canadian soldiers involved in these battles. His writing is candid and detailed...and chilling! Reading this reminds us of the suffering and sacrifice these men made for our freedom.
Cook is not shy of assigning glory and blame for the decisions of the Commanders and officers. He draws a great deal from the interviews and writings of soldiers like Farley Mowet (a great Canadian).
I'm almost finished this volume and looking forward to buying volume 2.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of Tim Cook's two-volume history of the Canadian military in World War II. I read the second volume first, and that one, with the defeat of the Axis, is certainly the more triumphant of the two. "The Necessary War," by contrast, is about failure (Dieppe), a long, brutal struggle (the North Atlantic convoys), and the meat grinder that was the Italian campaign. Through it all, Canadian troops gave as good as they got. Sometimes Cook gets too wound up in military hardware and nomenclature for my taste, but he balances that with informative vignettes about life for the men at sea, in the air and on the ground. If you think you now almost everything about WWII, this book will surprise you.

[Ian Coutts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Cook's books on Canadian military history are my default "comfort" reading. This is volume one of his two-part history of the Canadians in the Second World War, and I actually read it after I'd read volume 2. But that's all right -- I knew the ending (we won!) already. He's always lively, and reading this helped fill in details. My father was one of what you might call The Italian Campaign's "cast of thousands," so it gave that part of the story a personal dimension. I wonder what he'll do next?










9

[Michael Bourdignon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book encapsulates the Canadian military's actions and experiences in the early years of the war. Cook does a fantastic job covering not just the Canadian Army as most other books on the topic seem to, but also the actions of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Excellent maps are included to help visualize the complexity of the conflict, and the accounts of individuals who participated help to humanize the callousness of the war.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Wild Amazone

Adds little to the existing literature
6/10

Largely a disappointment. Adds little to the existing literature. On the other hand, if you have to read only two books on Canadian WWII military history, then this and its companion volume will fit that bill. Otherwise I'd recommend Mark Zuelhke and Terry Cop for better detail and depth.

WernerMark

[Christopher Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sheer depth of research in this book is staggering, and the ability to include all the detail yet still have such brilliant storytelling is remarkable. Call me a Tim Cook convert - I'll be reading the rest of his books one by one.

[Joel Kimmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covers Canada's involvement in WW2 and mainly touches on the Battle of the Atlantic, Dieppe, the Battle of Hong Kong and the Invasion of Italy. There is a tonne of great work on all of this and more. I'm looking forward to reading the next book.

[Alex Bowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive, insightful and thought-provoking read from cover to cover.

I especially loved how it shed light on the Canadian plight during the Second World War alongside the overreaching story of the conflict.

It couldn't have been better.

[Nishant Pappireddi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read on Canada in early WW2.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read! I have a family member who was in the The Winnipeg Grenadiers, and he became a POW in the Hong Kong camps. Very refreshing learning what Canadian solider's did in the War.

[Phillip Sawyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent history of the enormous Canadian contribution to the defeat of Hitler and his allies in WW2. Read this book!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of Cook's 2 volume set on Canada in WW2, this is a great 10,000' look at the first four years of Canada's involvement in the war. It provides coverage on all three branches of the armed forces, plus some on the unsung Merchant Marine. Stand-out sections are the fiascos of Hong Kong and Dieppe for the army, driven by Ottawa and high command politics and ego to rush soldiers into combat in ill-conceived operations. Necessarily, the early part of this volume deals heavily with the Atlantic convoys and the air war building over Germany, since the army did not begin sustained combat until Sicily in mid-1943.
The Brits tended to look on us as unruly, incompetent colonials in the first part of the war. In discussing the Battle of the North Atlantic, Cook talks about the RN looking down on the RCN for not sinking enough U-boats, while keeping nearly all of the latest ASW radar and other technology for themselves, and providing fewer of their better ships for the convoy escort role. In the air war, Canada had to fight the Brits to form the Canadian 6th Bomb Group, and then accept mostly obsolete, cast-off aircraft. The latter part of the book deals mainly on the Sicily and Italian campaigns by the Army, up to Ortona.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way Tim Cook writes military history; he takes it well beyond what we normally think of in this genre. Cook is superb at mixing the big picture war strategy with the intrusion of political considerations, along with the strategy of the commanders and service people in the field. He does this in such a way that the war becomes much more understandable. In addition, Cook does a great job of explaining the daily experiences of soldiers, not just in battle but in every aspect of the war experience. The Necessary War is an outstanding history of The first half of WWII for Canada's military.

[Robert Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history of WW2 from a Canadian perspective (from 1939-43). Covers the struggle with the U-boats, the RCAF over Europe, and the hellish fight up the Italian peninsula. I'd say this is a great overview of these three parts of the conflict as there are books devoted to smaller slices of the war.

[Jessica McClure · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed and thorough look at the Canadian involvement in WWII. Cook has a style that gives a technical military history a flowing and engaging narrative that is quite accessible. This book left me wanting more and I look forward to reading Vol. 2!

[Steve Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young people should read this. Clearly explains this fact, no one wanted another war only Hitler but we did the necessary thing. Puts it all in perspective and once again focuses on the soldiers, airmen and sailors.

[Winterwarrior99 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent narrative of the hardships faced by each branch of the Armed Forces, their contributions to the war effort together with individual examples of bravery and resourcefulness.

[David Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nailed it again I have completed two of Tim cooks books he has nailed a great novel once a again his work is for sure worth reading

[Libro Brothers · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqF4W...