New soldier suffering defeat around end of war (7)

I believe the answer is:

draftee

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

'new soldier' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'suffering defeat around end of war' is the wordplay.
'suffering' is an anagram indicator.
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'end of war' becomes 'r' (I've seen this in other clues).
'defeat' is an anagram of 'daftee'.
'daftee' enclosing 'r' is 'DRAFTEE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for draftee that I've seen before include "One forced to join" , "American military conscript" , "US conscript" , "Rookie" , "one brought into service" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.