Soldier making war in France, tearing top off house (9)
I believe the answer is:
guerrilla
'soldier' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'war in france tearing top off house' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'off' could be 'ill' and 'ill' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'making' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for guerrilla that I've seen before include "Irregular fighter" , "Such tactics" , "Politically motivated fighter" , "Underground fighter" , "One fighting" .)