“SHE was a superstar who would have been the most amazing mum.”

Those are the words of heartbroken Major Richard Wade, from West Wellow, who is grieving the sudden loss of his pregnant fiancée, Major Lesley Boden and their unborn child.

Major Boden was just weeks away from giving birth to their first child.

She had been given a medical check-up where all appeared to be fine just hours before she and their baby daughter died during the early hours of the morning, at their home.

With Major Wade stationed in Cyprus, her body was not found until the following afternoon when concerned colleagues from Marchwood Military Port forced their way into the house to find the 33-year-old in bed.

Struggling to come to terms with the loss, Major Wade still has no answers as to why the tragedy struck, but takes comfort from the fact that it appears to have happened while Major Boden was asleep.

Major Wade, of 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, said: “She would have done anything to protect that baby, so if she had woken up, knowing something was wrong, she would have called 999. So I can only assume she died in her sleep. I went straight into shock and even now I don’t think I have got my head around it yet.

“Our whole life had been planned out in front of us and now it has all been taken away.

“She was fun-loving, generous and never put herself first. She really was a superstar, she was too good for me and she would have been the most amazing mum.”

The alarm was raised at around lunchtime on May 16, when Major Boden, who was seven months pregnant, failed to arrive for work at the Marchwood base, where she was a squadron commander of 17 Port and Maritime Regiment.

Miles away from home, hanging on for information, Major Wade, who had been due home the next day, was told the devastating news over the phone and he was immediately put on a flight back to Britain.

The 35-year-old, who grew up in Lockerley, said: “I was all over the place. Even at that stage, we had no idea what had caused it, no idea if there was any foul play involved, but as soon as we arrived, the police told us that there was nothing suspicious and they suspected something medical.

“Amazingly, the day before, she had come back from a hospital appointment where they had checked her blood pressure and the baby’s heartbeat and everything was as it should be.

“When I spoke to her that night, she was quite happy because everything had been found to be OK. There was no sign that she was feeling ill, which is what makes it even harder.

“I don’t feel anger at the moment, I just feel massively unlucky because I don’t have Lesley, or our daughter. I think just to have kept one of them would have been nice.

“If she had been killed on tour somewhere, as part of her job, I would have a reason, but it is the not knowing that is really hard.”

The couple had not known the sex of the baby, due on June 28, but when Major Wade was told they had been expecting a little girl, he named her Rosina Eleanor, the name they had chosen for a girl just the week before.

The couple had been together for nearly three years and had bought their home in School Road in December, ready to start their family.

They met when they were both promoted to the rank of major.

Lesley had been a member of the armed forces since she was 16 and had served in Bosnia and Iraq with the Royal Logistics Corps.

Major Wade added: “I’m going to miss most the fact that we loved doing the same stuff. We loved going for walks, watching rugby and loved gin and tonic on a Friday night, because usually one of us would have travelled through some horrid traffic to get to the other.

“It’s hard to explain, but we just got on so well. She was my soulmate.”

Major Boden’s funeral is being held at Romsey Abbey at 12.30pm today (Friday). Those attending are asked to wear a bright buttonhole, flower as she loved flowers.

An inquest has been opened and adjourned.