Amphibious soldier, chap finally drowned in Italian lake (8)
I believe the answer is:
commando
'amphibious soldier' is the definition.
'commando' can be an answer for 'soldier' (I've seen this before). I am unsure of the 'amphibious' bit.
'chap finally drowned in italian lake' is the wordplay.
'chap' becomes 'man' (chap can mean a man).
'finally' indicates one should take the final letters.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'italian lake' becomes 'como' (I've seen this before).
The last letter of 'drowned' is 'd'.
'man'+'d'='mand'
'mand' going inside 'como' is 'COMMANDO'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for commando that I've seen before include "Soldier trained for raiding" , "Amphibious military unit" , "Kilt-wearer might go" , "Member of a special service military unit" , "Shock troop unit" .)