Not just pocket change
KITCHENER ARTIST DESIGNS TOONIE THAT CAPTURES ESSENCE OF D-DAY
It’s a startling image — three soldiers, peering over the top of their vessel during the historic D-Day landing at Juno Beach in France, their eyes betraying a mix of excitement and trepidation. “You try to put yourself in their headspace,” says Alan Daniel, the Kitchener artist who designed the image on a $2 coin to immortalize the 75th anniversary of one of the most significant events in Canadian military history. June 6, 1944 was the day Allied forces, including 13 Canadian regiments, stormed the beaches of Normandy, in northern France, to liberate mainland Europe from Nazi Germany during the Second World War. “They must have been a little bit scared,” muses Daniel, whose artistic rendering was chosen by government officials. “I didn’t want them to look panicked. They’re people who have a job to do, but a little nervous, with a slightly fearful anticipation.” Slightly fearful anticipation. That’s the descriptor that sums up the facial expressions of soldiers on the tiny transportation vessel surrounded by Allied warships, fighter planes and blimps that represent the largest seaborne invasion in military history. What Daniel captured in a few deft strokes is the sense of not knowing what awaits, that you could die at any moment, but forging ahead regardless, with stoic determination. “Eventually, they all get up and the doors open and there they are,” says the renowned landscape artist and illustrator, who has played this scenario over in his head many times. “They’ve got to wade ashore and fight. “This coin is the moment right before that, where they’re still protected, but they know it’s not gonna last.” The celebrated 79-year-old wasn’t there to witness the historic event — he was four at the time — but having studied countless photos, he came as close as any historian could. “I grew up with all that excitement around me,” notes the Ottawa native, son of a Baptist minister, who settled in Kitchener a half century ago with his wife, Lea. “When you read the accounts, it must have been scary as hell. They didn’t know who they were going up against or how long they were gonna last. “And yet they did it. They sucked it up and went ahead and did it. These guys were just incredibly brave.” It’s not Daniel’s first time in the public eye. A longtime illustrator with several Robert Munsch books to his credit, along with works by Farley Mowat and Pierre Berton, he designed three previous coins for the Royal Canadian Mint, commemorative one-offs that didn’t go into circulation. But this one is different — an actual toonie, in colour, with the kind of cultural penetration most artists only dream about. “I’m proud of it — it’s something special,” Daniel says of his historically accurate depiction of the attack .“My friends can have a piece of my art in their pockets. It’s really cool.” The biggest thrill is holding the finished coin in his hand, “because I know the drawing so well I can almost feel the diagram.’’ It goes without saying that Daniel’s late mother would have been proud. “She would always say, ‘Oh Alan, why don’t you teach, like your cousin Ken?’” he says with a laugh. “Mothers always want you to get into something with a regular income — and I was freelancing.” She and his late cousin would sing a different tune if they were to reach a hand in their pockets and pull out a toonie with the initials A.D. on the back. “It’s out there and already I’ve had a lot of feedback on it,” notes the modest designer, who purchased 200 mint-condition coins to hand out to friends and relatives. “What a big world, but you realize what a small world it is at the same time.” He adds: “I’m gonna have to stop saying, ‘Oh, you know — I designed that!’ The temptation is always there.” Daniel’s coins are available at 1-800-2671871, www.mint.ca/dday or, possibly, in your pocket. – Originally published in The Waterloo Region Record in June 2019.