A few men returned bearing British headgear (8)
I believe the answer is:
sombrero
'british headgear' is the definition.
'sombrero' can be an answer for 'headgear' (sombrero is a kind of headgear). I'm not certain of the 'british' bit.
'a few men returned' is the wordplay.
'a few' becomes 'sombre' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'men' becomes 'OR' (military abbreviation for Other Ranks).
'returned' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'or' written backwards gives 'ro'.
'sombre'+'ro'='SOMBRERO'
'bearing' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sombrero that I've seen before include "Wide-brimmed 23" , "Covering up" , "headgear in parts of US" , "It may be felt" , "Wide-brimmed Mexican hat" .)