Soldiers return wretched after end of conflict (5)
I believe the answer is:
troop
'soldiers' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'return wretched after end of conflict' is the wordplay.
'return' is a reversal indicator.
'wretched' becomes 'poor' ('poor' can be a synonym of 'wretched'**).
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'end of' suggests the final letters.
The final letter of 'conflict' is 't'.
'poor'+'t'='poort'
'poort' backwards is 'TROOP'.
(Other definitions for troop that I've seen before include "Group of people or animals" , "Squad" , "Band of people" , "Cavalry unit commanded by a captain" , "Military body" .)