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| HMS Belfast in her proper place |
Evening Standard 9 Nov 2011
Olympics bosses were today accused of trying to "remove" Britain's military history after HMS Belfast was air-brushed from a poster.
The advert, promoting the London 2012 Festival, shows the view around Tower bridge. But the warship, which has been moored on the Thames since 1971 and played a crucial role protecting the Arctic convoys and supporting the D-Day landings, is notably missing from the poster.
Veterans today said they were "horrified" by the omission. Sir James Eberle, who served on Belfast between 1944 and 1945 and again during the Korean war, said: "Hearing this news horrifies me. I'm astonished that HMS Belfast could be so thoughtlessly removed." Sir James, who is a former admiral and president of the HMS Belfast Association, said that Olympics chiefs should "show off" the country's maritime history. "This shows complete contempt for veterans, especially just days from Remembrance Sunday."
The poster was spotted on a Northern line platform at Camden Town. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games today apologised for the mistake and any offence caused and said the posters had been removed and redesigned. A spokesman said the reason HMS Belfast had been omitted from one of the designs was because it was underneath one of the letters in the text.
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| The offending poster as seen in the tube and as you can also see the HMS Belfast was never where the spokesman said it was.... " A spokesman said the reason HMS Belfast had been omitted from one of the designs was because it was underneath one of the letters in the text." |
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