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Former
soldier,
American,
shielding
deserter
as
a
favour
(2,6)
Former soldier, American, shielding deserter as a favour (2,6)
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The definition is at the end of the clue.
How the clue works
The definition is as a favour, which describes something done voluntarily — "ex gratia". For the wordplay, "Former" gives EX, then "soldier" gives GI (as in G.I. Joe) and "American" gives A. The word "shielding" tells us that GI and A go around RAT ("deserter"), producing G-RAT-IA. Put it all together: EX plus GRATIA gives EX GRATIA.