Turns up inexperienced taking direction right at the start of primary before outbreak of hostilities

I believe the answer is:

prewar

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'before outbreak of hostilities' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'turns up inexperienced taking direction right at the start of primary' is the wordplay.
'turns up' is a reversal indicator.
'inexperienced' becomes 'raw' ('raw' can be similar in meaning to 'inexperienced').
'taking direction' becomes 'e' (E is an example. I am not sure about the 'taking' bit.**).
'right' becomes 'r' (common abbreviation).
'at the start of' suggests taking the first letters (I've seen 'at the start' mean this).
The first letter of 'primary' is 'p'.
'raw'+'e'+'r'+'p'='rawerp'
'rawerp' reversed gives 'PREWAR'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for prewar that I've seen before include "Edwardian times" , "Before 1939, say" , "Eg, before 1939" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times.

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