At the front, a prisoner gets out when the war is finished (4)
I believe the answer is:
prow
'the war is finished' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'at the front a prisoner gets out' is the wordplay.
'at the front' says to take the initial letters.
'gets out' becomes 'row' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The initial letter of 'prisoner' is 'p'.
'p'+'row'='PROW'
'when' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for prow that I've seen before include "Pointed front part of a vessel" , "position of figurehead" , "Ship's front part" , "Front end of ship" , "Projecting front part of ship" .)