Sir Ronald Forbes Adam, 2nd Baronet

Sir Ronald Forbes Adam, Bt
General Sir Ronald Adam
Born	30 October 1885 Bombay, India
Died	26 December 1982 (aged 97) Faygate, Sussex, England
Buried at	Rusper, Sussex, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1903–1946
Rank	General
Unit	Royal Artillery
Commands held	Staff College, Camberley III Corps Northern Command
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Officer of the Order of the British Empire Mentioned in Despatches

General Sir Ronald Forbes Adam, 2nd Baronet GCB, DSO, OBE (30 October 1885 – 26 December 1982) was a senior British Army officer whose career spanned World War I and World War II. He had an important influence on the conduct of the British Army in World War II as a result of his long tenure as Adjutant General, responsible for the British Army's organisation and administration, as well as through being a close confidant of Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (the professional head of the British Army) from December 1941 until the end of the war.

Adam was the eldest son of Sir Frank Forbes Adam, 1st Baronet and his wife Rose Frances Kemball.

Educated at Eton College and the Royal Military Academy Woolwich, Adam was commissioned in 1903 from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich into the Royal Artillery. After a posting to India with the Royal Horse Artillery, he served in France, Belgium and Italy during World War I during which he attained the permanent rank of major (in November 1916) and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and was Mentioned in despatches three times. After the war he held a number of successively more senior staff postings at the War Office. He also spent a period as an instructor at the Army Staff College between 1932 and 1935 when the other instructors included Anderson, Gort, Montgomery, Neame, Paget and Thorne. He was appointed Commander Royal Artillery for 1st Division in 1936. He went on to receive in 1937 the prestigious posting of Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley, his first appointment as major-general. When Gort, a man of action but not particularly cerebral, was appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff Adam was made Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff "to be the thinking head whilst Gort provided the drive".