Stephen M. Danforth entered the military service in Rhode Island. He served in the 552nd Bomber Squadron, 386th Bomber Group, Medium, as a First Lieutenant and Pilot on the B-26 #41-34958 "Hazard" [RG*F] during World War II.

On September 8, 1943, their plane took off from Station 150 at Boxted, England on a mission to bomb the factory and railway junction in Marquise, France. The plane received a direct flak hit in the bomb bay just prior to bomb release. Clouds of black smoke poured from the bomb bay which then exploded and the aircraft disintegrated from the rear of the plane just behind the wings. Their plane crashed near Marquise - 10km northeast from Boulogne-sur-Mer. The crew that day was 1Lt Stephen M. Danforth, 2Lt Joseph W. Bruck, 2Lt William J. Coffey, Jr., Sgt Louis P. McNeill; T/Sgt Jack E. Whitehead and S/Sgt Joseph E. Sanchez. Danforth, Bruck and Coffey were killed in the aircraft, Whitehead was missing in action while McNeill and Sanchez became prisoners of war.

Originally buried at the town cemetery of Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, 1Lt Danforth was later repratiated to the U.S. and is now buried in the Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France.

Other info, from 2Lt Bruck on www.b26.com (Link transmitted by Claude Dannau) Extract from Major Howard's Report (source: Fold3 Page 12681):
The aircraft concerned was flying in the number three position of a thirty-six airplanes formation. When the formation was on the bomb run with bomb bay doors open and approximately five seconds before the release point, the aircraft concerned was hit by flak either at the intersection of the forward and aft bomb bay or just forward of the bulkhead that separates the two bomb bays.
There was an explosion and pieces of the airplanes flew out in all directions. There was black smoke and flames and the whole underside of the ship seemed to desintegrate in the air all the way back to the waist windows. The nose of the aircraft went up and the airplanebroke in half just aft of the intersection of the trailing edge of the wing and fuselage. The bombs fell out of the airplane. No parachutes were observed, however Sergent Louis P McNeill and Staff Sergent Joseph E Sanchez have been reported Prisoners of War.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, francecrashes39-45.net, b26.com