Old soldiers turned to English man (5)
I believe the answer is:
steve
'man' is the definition.
'old soldiers turned to english' is the wordplay.
'old soldiers' becomes 'vets' (short for veterans).
'turned' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'to english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'vets' written backwards gives 'stev'.
'stev'+'e'='STEVE'
(Other definitions for steve that I've seen before include "- - Harmison (bowler)" , "- Reich; - Biko" , "- - Wright (R2)" , "Sir - - Redgrave (oarsman)" , "Chap" .)