Luce served in the Second World War, initially in command of the Rainbow and then, from June 1940, in command of the submarine HMS Cachalot.[4] The hazardous patrols he undertook in these submarines led to him being awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 12 November 1940.[8] Promoted to commander on 31 December 1940, he was posted to the Plans Division of the Admiralty in March 1941 and then became Naval Raid planner on the staff of the Naval Adviser at Combined Operations Headquarters.[4] He took part in the Dieppe Raid in August 1942 for which he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 2 October 1942[9] and was appointed Chief Staff Officer to the Naval Forces for the Normandy landings in June 1944 as a result of which he won a Bar to his DSO on 14 November 1944.[10] He went on to be Executive Officer of the cruiserHMS Swiftsure in the British Pacific Fleet in August 1944 and was promoted to captain on 30 June 1945.[11]
After the war, Luce became Chief of Staff (Operations) to the Commander-in-Chief, British Pacific Fleet.[4] He went on to be Commanding officer of Royal Naval Air Station Ford in September 1946 and became deputy director of Plans at the Admiralty in December 1948.[4] After that he became Commanding Officer of the cruiser HMS Liverpool in 1951 and then commanded the cruiser HMS Birmingham in 1952 in coastal bombardment operations during the Korean War for which he was mentioned in despatches on 19 May 1953.[12]
In retirement, Luce became President of the Royal Naval Association.[4] He was appointed an Officer of the Venerable Order of Saint John on 3 January 1969.[22] He died, less than five years after his resignation from the Navy, at Lansdown Nursing Home in Bath, Somerset on 6 January 1971.[4]