Crossword Genius

Describing the soldier returning to battle area the wrong way round! (4,2,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

back to front

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'the wrong way round' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'describing the soldier returning to battle area' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
'area' could be 'front' (front is a kind of area) and 'front' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for back to front that I've seen before include "In disorder" , "may be reversed" , "rejoin colleagues in the trenches?" , "This order's wrong" , "after recovery, soldiers go here" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish News.
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