UK Honors D-Day With Very Flawed Stamp

Britain's Royal Mail decided to roll out a commemorative stamp in honor of the 75th anniversary of D-Day next year, which is completely fitting. What wasn't so fitting, however: The image used on the stamp, which was captioned "D-Day: Allied soldiers and medics wade ashore." That caption isn't entirely inaccurate, reports the New York Times, in that yes, the image shows Allied soldiers and medics wading ashore, but those troops are wading ashore in Indonesia not Normandy, and the image was shot weeks ahead of D-Day. In addition, it shows the wrong ship.

"Wrong theatre; wrong date; wrong vessel; wrong troops. This gross insult to veterans and those who didn’t make it should be withdrawn," tweeted Andy Saunders, a history consultant. The Royal Mail is apologizing and a rep says that "this stamp will not be part of our set to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings." The error was caught before any stamps were printed, but a British stamp dealer notes that "The reign of Queen Elizabeth II is actually considered to be the golden era of British stamp errors for collectors." (More Royal Mail stories.)