LRC's first combat tour was with the 33rd Fighter Group. This unit took part in the invasion of North Africa code-named Operation Torch. LRC's squadron was launched from the aircraft carrier, USS Chenango to land at Port Lyautey, Morocco. The group soon moved to the Tunisian front. Between November 1942 and June 1943 LRC downed ten enemy aircraft including nine Luftwaffe and one Italian (see Table of Air Combat Victories). LRC's victory total made him the top-ranked ace among United States Army Air Corps pilots in the Northwestern Africa theatre of operation. Of significance is that fact that most of these victories were against superior German fighter craft. Later victories were added on missions with the 2nd Air Commando Group which was based in Cox's Bazaar, India and flew missions in Burma and Thailand.

The 33rd Fighter Group flew several variants of the P-40, a fighter that was considered already obsolete by the beginning of WWII. A recent book by Carl Molesworth entitled "P-40 Warhawk Aces of the MTO" (published by Osprey) recounts some of the history of the 33rd Fighter Group and includes artistic renderings of the aircraft of MTO aces. Click here to see the artistic rendering of LRC's P-40L. This illustration is provided courtesy of Osprey and Carl Molesworth and should not be reproduced without permission