Dr Tim Cook (left) with Pieter (right) at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.  (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

October 27, 2025.  Pieter and I were deeply saddened yesterday to learn of the passing of Dr. Tim Cook, Chief Historian at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Canada, and the author of several books and articles about Canadian history.  (See https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/war-museum-announces-passing-of-chief-historian-dr-tim-cook-832395381.html and https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/canadian-war-museum-tim-cook-dies-9.6954386)

We knew Dr. Cook as a gracious and friendly person, who was always willing to share his knowledge.  A previous blog posting recounted a conversation that we had with him at the Canadian War Museum during the Covid years, about the need to remember our history.  (See https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/2021/09/20/on-the-war-memorial-trail-in-conversation-with-historian-dr-tim-cook/)

When we first met and I initially called him Dr. Cook, he immediately corrected me!  He referred to himself simply as ‘Tim’, and we were ‘Daria and Pieter’ to him.  

Over the years, we found that if you asked Dr. Cook a question, he answered promptly….and if he didn’t know the answer, he found someone who did.  Just one example:  In the summer of 2024, we received a query from a small Manitoba museum asking how to display WWI trench maps.  The request came to us, but we aren’t experts in preservation, so I emailed Dr. Cook and asked if he could forward the query to someone at the museum that could help.  He did, and the small Manitoba museum got the expert advice and help needed to display the maps.

He’d been very ill in 2023, and in June of that year, he wrote us that “…I’m doing better, although it was another full-on battle with cancer. Sigh. I’m a four-time survivor, but I didn’t think I was going to make it through this one. I did, and I’m not complaining….” Indeed he didn’t complain, but went on to write another book, ‘The Good Allies’, about the relationship between Canada and the United States during WWII.

Dr. Cook’s passing, at the age of 54, is a great loss to Canadian history, to his family, friends, colleagues, and to all of us who learned about our nation’s history through his books and articles.

Pieter’s research into Canadian soldiers continues.  If you have a story or photos to share, please contact Pieter at memorialtrail@gmail.com or comment on the blog. 

© Daria Valkenburg

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4 countries, 6 weeks, 7,000 km – an unforgettable war memorial journey in Europe…. Daria’s book ‘No Soldier Buried Overseas Should Ever Be Forgotten‘ is available in print and e-book formats.  Net proceeds of book sales help support research costs and the cost of maintaining this blog. For more information see https://nosoldierforgotten.com/

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