It shades soldiers on leave initially (7)
I believe the answer is:
parasol
'it shades' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'soldiers on leave initially' is the wordplay.
'soldiers' becomes 'paras' (para is a kind of soldier).
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letters of 'on leave' is 'ol'.
'paras'+'ol'='PARASOL'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for parasol that I've seen before include "protection from the rays" , "mushroom" , "Sunshade" , "Light umbrella to ward off the sun" , "for protection from the elements" .)