Poles on Greek Island confused German (5)
I believe the answer is:
saxon
'german' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'poles on' is the wordplay.
'poles' becomes 'sax' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'sax'+'on'='SAXON'
'greek island confused' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
(Other definitions for saxon that I've seen before include "German invader of Britain" , "Race of England's rulers before the Conquest" , "Germanic conqueror of southern England" , "Ancient German" , "Member of Germanic tribe settled in southern England after the Romans" .)