The Alberni Project in the Comox Centre Mall has added a painting by former Comox Valley artist Marc Magee that depicts an episode close to D-Day when the HMCS Alberni shot down an attacking German plane.
Magee, retired from the Armed Forces, interviewed one of the last surviving crewmen of Alberni, the only Canadian warship to shoot down a German plane during the Second World War.
Magee is a self-taught artist who started painting in his early teens. He began painting aircraft and trains in various mediums before settling on acrylic. His penchant for naval scenes has been influenced by his grandfather, who worked for Canada Steamship Lines.
Magee joined the Canadian military in the air traffic control field in his late teens. He spent 13 years on Vancouver Island and fell in love with the harbour tugs that worked log booms up the Courtenay River to lumber mills.
Through a chance meeting with Roger Litwiller, he arranged to do a painting of HMCS Trentonian for Litwiller's coming book. After the book's release, the painting will be donated and displayed permanently in the Trenton Public Library.
Magee resides in Trenton, Ont. Last year, he was elected to the Canadian Society of Marine Artists.
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com