In her heyday she helped destroy a German battleship, supported the D-Day landings and survived a blast from an enemy mine.

But HMS Belfast sank without trace this week when she was airbrushed out of official London Olympic posters because she ‘got in the way’.

Veterans expressed their disgust at the step yesterday, saying it insulted the memory of those who died in the war in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday and reflected embarrassment at our military past....