After a short stint as an enlisted man in the 44th Infantry Regiment, Berbecki was sent to a
Junkers military school, returning to his regiment in 1893. After serving as a junior officer, including a stint as quartermaster of his regiment, he left the army in 1901 to study at the Kharkiv Institute of Technology. In early 1903, he was drafted into the
Imperial Russian Army as an officer. He later joined the
Polish Legions during World War I (commander of a regiment, battalion, member of headquarters), distinguishing himself in the
Battle of Raśna in 1915. After the
Oath crisis in 1917, he headed the
Polish Auxiliary Corps and was the training inspector of the
Polnische Wehrmacht. After Poland regained its independence in 1918, he joined the
Polish Army. Promoted to general in June of that year, Berbecki fought in the
Polish-Ukrainian War and
Polish-Soviet War, commanding the
3rd Polish Legions Division. During the
interwar period, he held various functions in the Polish Army and retired in March 1939. He did not participate in the
Polish September Campaign that marked the start of
World War II but was arrested by
Nazi Germany and interned along with other Polish officers. He returned to Poland in 1945, and published his memoirs "Pamiętnik generała broni" (Memoires of a General) in 1959. ==Honours and awards==