Digger in trench initiated altercation with the Spanish (6)
I believe the answer is:
trowel
'digger' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'trench initiated altercation with the spanish' is the wordplay.
'initiated' indicates taking the first letters.
'altercation' becomes 'row' (I've seen this before).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the spanish' becomes 'el' ('the' in Spanish).
The initial letter of 'trench' is 't'.
't'+'row'+'el'='TROWEL'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for trowel that I've seen before include "Brickie holds it" , "Small garden tool for lifting plants" , "Spreading implement" , "Scoop-shaped tool with short handle" , "One spreads" .)