The night before he was shot Brigadier Stephen Saunders attended a dinner in Athens hosted by the British ambassador, David Madden. Guests included Baroness Symons, the British defence procurement minister, and the Greek deputy defence minister.
There can be little doubt that they discussed the recent Greek decision to buy 60 Eurofighters, which are being made by a consortium including British Aerospace. The Greeks are still negotiating the details of a contract.
Greece, like its Nato ally but traditional enemy, Turkey, is a huge purchaser of arms. One of the tasks of a defence attache is to help promote the sales of British weapons. There are two sides to this: opening the doors to visiting British ministers and companies, and gathering early information about the type of military equipment the host country is after and identifying the key players to influence.
Defence attaches keep their ears open for any political or military information useful to Whitehall, including the MoD's defence intelligence staff.
Brigadier Saunders's role in Athens is likely to have included monitoring Greek military opinion on Nato's involvement in Kosovo, on Turkey, and negotiations over the divided island of Cyprus.
It is the task of MI6 station chiefs to monitor Greek political opinion and perceived terrorist threats though they liaise with defence attaches.
Defence attaches also have a high profile representational role, attending national days and receptions in uniform.
There are 116 defence attaches - who are appointed from all three armed services - serving in 73 missions abroad. Recently the government has asked them to take on another function: what it calls "defence diplomacy".
This includes training and giving advice to armed forces in the developing world, in the former Soviet Union and in the new democracies of eastern and central Europe.
Last year's strategic defence review said examples of defence diplomacy included soldiers building schools in Bosnia, helping to feed refugees in Africa, monitoring arms control agreements, and conducting joint military exercises.
A new MoD outreach programme included English language training programmes, the development of "democratically accountable, cost effective, armed forces", and military education. Defence attaches, says the MoD, should also have a "role to play as ambassadors for peace and security worldwide".
The new emphasis on defence diplomacy will provide important support for Britain's foreign and security policy objectives, using defence resources in constructive and imaginative ways, the MoD adds. "This, will put Britain in a strong position to make a real contribution to conflict prevention."
1975 Unknown attackers tried to firebomb the British consulate in Naples, a group calling themselves the "armed territorial squads" claimed responsibility. The fire bomb failed to explode
Murdered in the line of duty
1976 Ambassador to Ireland, Chris Ewert Biggs, killed in Dublin by an IRA car bomb
1979 Ambassador to the Netherlands, Sir Richard Sykes, killed in the Hague by an IRA car bomb
1984 Director of the British Council in Athens, Kenneth Whitty, assassinated in what is believed to have been an attack by the Abu Nidal Palestinian terrorist group. His killers are believed to have mistaken him for the MI6 officer in Athens from whom Whitty had bought a car.
1984 Diplomat Percy Norris killed in Bombay also by Abu Nidal