Royal Mail apologises for 'insulting' D-Day stamp that actually showed US troops on beach in Asia

Photo blunder 'a gross insult to veterans', say historians

The stamp showed US troops in Indonesia leaving a ship that did not feature in the Normandy landings

(PA)

Royal Mail has apologised for unveiling a stamp to commemorate the D-Day landings which actually showed US troops on a beach in Indonesia.

The stamp, intended to depict British troops landing in France, has been withdrawn after historians called it “a gross insult to veterans”.

It was scheduled for release in June next year to mark the 75^th anniversary of the pivotal World War II offensive in Normandy.

The stamp was unveiled as part of a 2019 collection celebrating the “best of British” and was labelled ”D-Day Allied soldiers and medics wade ashore”.

Royal Mail said it would no longer feature in the collection after the blunder came to light.

A spokesman said: “We work very hard to ensure that our Special Stamp programme appropriately commemorates anniversaries and events that are relevant to UK heritage and life.

“We would like to offer our sincere apologies that our preview release for our 2019 Special Stamp programme included a stamp design which had been incorrectly associated with the D-Day landings.”

The mistake was pointed out by a historian after Royal Mail posted a preview of the stamp on Twitter.

“Oh dear, this is not very good,” said Stephen Fisher. “The image chosen actually depicts US troops disembarking from LCI(L) 30 at Dutch New Guinea in May 1944. It’s a US Coast Guard photo and was published in All Hands magazine shortly after.”

That ship did not take part in the Normandy landings.

On the US National World War II museum website, the image is captioned: “USS LCI(L)-30 landing troops carrying stretchers onto a beach during a second assault wave”. It states the picture was taken on 17 May, 1944 – three weeks before the D-Day landings nearly 8,500 miles away.

Military historian Andy Saunders branded the stamp a “shambles”. He added: “Wrong theatre; wrong date; wrong vessel; wrong troops. This gross insult to veterans and those who didn’t make it should be withdrawn.”

The Spirit of Normandy Trust, which seeks to improve public knowledge of the landings, said incorrect images were had been used to depict D-Day before.

Ian Stewart, vice-chairman of the trust, said: “The problem with most of these things is that research has got to be thorough and done well ahead of time. It’s very unfortunate, but research is absolutely critical and it’s not the first time it’s been done about D-Day. People think that it doesn’t matter who’s in the photograph.”

The “Best of British” collection will feature 11 stamps that mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. It will also include six stamps to commemorate the life of Queen Victoria, whose bicentenary will take place in May 2019.