[2] For his compulsory military service he attended the Mazowiecka Szkoła Podchorążych Rezerwy Artylerii (The Mazovian School for Cadets of the Artillery Reserve) in Zambrów which he finished with the rank of corporal.

[4] In August 1944 Bernaciak, together with about 350 partisan soldiers began a march in an attempt to aid the insurgents fighting the Nazis in the Warsaw Uprising, on the orders of AK central command.

[2] Initially he accepted the command of Armed Forces Delegation for Poland and later, beginning in September, he joined the anti-communist Freedom and Independence (WiN) movement.

[2] One of his most famous actions took place on April 24, 1945, when Orlik's men attacked and captured the UB office in Puławy, freeing 107 political prisoners (mostly former AK members).

[2] Another famous engagement took place on 24 May 1945 near Las Stocki, when together with a unit of fifty men under lieutenant Czesław Szlendak ("Maks") Bernaciak won a battle[2] against a force of 680 soldiers (KBW, UB and NKVD)[5] which was equipped with three armored cars.

This was the largest battle fought in the post-World War II period between the forces of the Polish and Soviet governments and anti-communist partisans in Poland.

However, afterward, due to the increased presence of regular Polish army and UB security units in the region, Bernaciak was forced to change his tactics.

[citation needed] In his home village of Zalesie, a monument was erected after the fall of communism in 1989, commemorating him with an inscription, a cross and a symbol of "Poland Fighting".

[citation needed] On 25 June 2006, in Piotrówek, the President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński led a ceremony honoring the memory of Marian Bernaciak, "Orlik" and awarded him the Grand Cross of Polonia Restituta posthumously.