Firm male, chap facing the German officer (9)
I believe the answer is:
commander
'officer' is the definition.
(commander is a kind of officer)
'firm male chap facing the german' is the wordplay.
'firm' becomes 'co' (a firm is a company).
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'chap' becomes 'man' (I've seen this before**).
'facing' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the german' becomes 'der' ('the' in German).
'co'+'m'+'man'+'der'='COMMANDER'
(Other definitions for commander that I've seen before include "The one who gives the orders" , "Naval rank" , "Officer in charge of a military unit" , "One hoping to be captain" , "One in authority" .)