Maple Leaf Against the Axis: Canada's Second World War

Dean F. Oliver is the assistant director of the Centre for International
and Security Studies at York University in Toronto.

The pugnacious introduction to this volume notes with regret the lack of
knowledge that most Canadians have about their country’s military past
and suggests, in strong language, that Canadian military history and the
men and women who made it deserve more respect from historians. At one
level, therefore, it is a comprehensive account of Canadian military
operations during World War II; on another, it is the author’s
personal tribute to those who served and a historiographical swipe at
recent text book writers. The latter’s interest in the war, argues
Bercuson, seems limited to “a pithy summary” of its social
implications. Largely a throwback to traditional guns-and-trumpets
history, Bercuson’s own version of events is a stirring, overtly
nationalistic recollection of the great deeds done by Canadians in arms
to defeat the fascist hordes. Its description of military operations is
very good indeed, but works that cover both the civilian and the
military spheres—notably the revised edition of the superb volume Out
of the Shadows (1995)—will remain indispensable to a broader
understanding of the conflict.

Despite his starting point, Bercuson is far from effusive in his praise
of Canadian military efforts. Echoing recent books by John English and
J.L. Granatstein, he is less than kind to A.G.L. McNaughton, the first
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, First Canadian Army; like Marc
Milner, he is equally tough on Percy W. Nelles, Chief of the Naval
Staff. Training, equipment, the officer corps, strategy, and tactics all
come under fire at one time or another but, like Terry Copp, Bercuson
never loses sight of the professionalism, determination, and, all too
often, fanaticism of our wartime foes in assessing Canadian military
competence. By war’s end, he argues, Canada’s soldiers, sailors, and
flyers were second to none, but the bill for their increased efficiency
had been paid in blood.

This book’s overt agenda and strident tone will not be to
everyone’s taste, but its firm grasp of the secondary literature,
clear and concise text, and frequent resort to first-hand recollections
combine for a smooth and highly readable volume.