Col Balasaheb Barge who served with 20 Maratha LI and 15 Maratha LI left for his heavenly abode from MH CTC ,Pune on 23 August 2024 due to prolonged illness.
He was residing at E6/5 ,Salunke Vihar Pune .His loss was deeply mourned by his family, friends and acquaintances .The Maratha Regimental fraternity felt the great loss and expressed their heartfelt condolences in large numbers and offered prayers to the departed soul for moksha.
Col Barge's funeral was held on 24 August 24 with military honours, provided by his parent Maratha Regiment ,at the Salunke Vihar Road Crematorium .The funeral was well attended by the Maratha LI Regimental officers ,families and friends .
Col Barge will be missed by the Regimental family of 20th Maratha LI (Mech ) and 15th Maratha LI (Burj) with whom he served with devotion , dedication and distinction ,especially during 1965 & 1971 wars .He is a gallantry award winner of the 1965 war.
May his departed soul attain moksha and
may God give strength to his daughters ,Ashwini , Sheetal and their family members to bear this irreparable loss .
Col Balasaheb Barge made a notable and commendable contribution to the Victory India Campaign and Mission Victory India . He is the only individual who through sheer painstaking efforts and perseverance reviewed all the five volumes of the Victory India Campaign campediums . His clear and crisp reviews of these 5 volumes have been published many times by Fauji India Magazine and would continue to be published in future . The images of some of these book reviews against the background of book covers is being published with this tribute for awareness and benefit of readers .
During the 1971 war Col Barge was posted with 15 Maratha LI that won the Battle Honour 'Burj ' . Brig Ranbir Singh (then the 2IC and Company Commander of 15 Maratha LI ) who planned,coordinated and led the unit attack in this battle said that Col Barge played a significant role in this battle. Salunke Vihar in Pune is named after Sep Pandurang Salunke, of 15 Maratha LI who was awarded MVC ,posthumously for this battle.
I am personally indebted to Col Barge for his magnanimous efforts and noble contribution to the Victory India Campaign and MVI for writing the reviews to all our 7 books including 'Role Model' and 'Sun Tzu's Art of War' besides 5 volumes of ' Victory India Campaign.'
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