The British military attache shot dead in Athens spoke with an Essex war veteran days earlier.

Edwin Horlington is president of the Brotherhood of the Veterans of the Greek Campaign and the two men met at a reunion in Greece.

Mr Horlington, said Brig Saunders was "a very kind and compassionate man and a good soldier".

They stayed together last month during the annual remembrance for servicemen who lost their lives during the ill-fated campaign of 1940-41.

Mr Horlington said he was impressed by the brigadier's "genuine interest", and added: "He felt strongly about the veterans of the campaign and remembering them."

Amid remembrance ceremonies and sightseeing, Brig Saunders told Mr Horlington he had been contacted by a Greek farmer who had cared for a wounded British soldier during the war.

The soldier had died and was buried anonymously by the farmer - but the brigadier wanted to do something more.

Mr Horlington said: "He was genuinely concerned to find out all he could about this story. He wanted to make sure the soldier was remembered."

Mr Horlington, 80, of Walton Road, Walton, who served in the Army Service Corps, published his account of the Greek campaign in the 1991 book Tell Them We Were Here.

Brig Saunders, who was 52, was ambushed and shot in his car as he drove to the British Embassy last week. The gunmen are believed to be November 17 group terrorists.

His body was flown to Britain on Tuesday and the funeral, with full military honours, will be at Salisbury Cathedral on June 20.

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