Peter Leon Berbecki, born on a farm in Kalinowszczyzna in what is now Lublin, was one of four children.

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.

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.

[1] During the interwar period, he held various functions in the Polish Army and retired in March 1939.