Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Wanda masanin tarihi Alan Stephens ya bayyana a matsayin "acerbic amma mai iyawa", McLachlan ya jagoranci No. 3 Squadron ta hanyar yakin Sidi Barrani a watan Disamba na 1940, sannan kuma
Yaƙin Bardia da kama Tobruk a watan Janairun 1941. Kafin canzawa zuwa Hawker Hurricanes a wannan watan, an ba da lambar yabo ga rukunin da ya hallaka jirgin sama na Italiya goma sha biyu don asarar Gladiators biyar da matukan jirgi biyu; McLachlan ya harbe Fiat CR.42 a ranar 10 ga Disamba, 1940, irin wannan aikin da ɗan ƙungiyar jirgin saman da Gordon Steege na gaba ya yi da'awar "kashe" na farko. Babban Jami'in Jirgin Sama na RAF na Gabas ta Tsakiya, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore, ya yaba wa McLachlan da tawagarsa saboda "babban halin kirki da kuma iyawar daidaitawa da yanayin hamada".