The Ministry of Truth

Apparently no one will fess up to doing it, but the motive was obvious. "How today's PC censors airbrushed out his cigar":

The face is instantly familiar, the two-fingered salute unmistakable.

But are these actually the same photograph of Sir Winston Churchill?

In the original photograph the war leader has his cigar gripped firmly in the corner of his mouth.

But in the other image - currently greeting visitors to a London museum - his favourite smoke has been digitally extinguished.

It seems the man who steered Britain through the most dangerous period of its recent history may have fallen victim to the modern curse of political correctness. ....

An earlier example of modifying history representing a more sinister kind of political correctness [the original photograph is the one on the right - Yezhov was removed from the picture after Stalin had him shot]:

Thanks to Kevin Staley-Joyce at First Things for the reference.

Churchill as a non-smoker: How today's PC censors airbrushed out his cigar | Mail Online