Died after aerial battle: going to heaven? (7)
I believe the answer is:
skyward
'going to heaven?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'died after aerial battle' is the wordplay.
'died' becomes 'd' (abbreviation next to the year of someone's death).
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'aerial' becomes 'sky' ().
'battle' becomes 'war' (armed conflict).
'sky'+'war'='skywar'
'd' put after 'skywar' is 'SKYWARD'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for skyward that I've seen before include "from the ground?" , "Up to the heavens" .)