Old volunteers watch out carrying large dishes etc (9)
I believe the answer is:
tableware
'dishes etc' is the definition.
(tableware includes dishes)
'old volunteers watch out carrying large' is the wordplay.
'old volunteers' becomes 'TA' (Territorial Army, former name of the Army Reserve).
'watch out' becomes 'beware' (bewaring is a kind of watching out).
'carrying' indicates putting letters inside.
'large' becomes 'L' (eg in clothes sizes).
'beware' enclosing 'l' is 'bleware'.
'ta'+'bleware'='TABLEWARE'
(Other definitions for tableware that I've seen before include "knives, etc" , "Dinner service" , "Bowls, for example" , "Crockery, cutlery, etc." .)