Second World War: General Sir Ronald Forbes Adam, 2nd Baronet, GCB, DSO, OBE (30 October 1885 – 26 December 1982) was a senior British Army officer.

Following his return from France on 31 May 1940, Adam was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command, responsible for the defence of the coastline from The Wash to the Scottish border.

Adam did not accept the traditional view that there was an officer-producing class, but believed that men and women of ability could be found in all parts of the community.

The leftward swing in British public opinion during the war years that resulted in a landslide win for the Labour Party in the 1945 general election was blamed on the ABCA.

As the end of the war approached, Adam instituted a demobilisation system based on the "first in, first out" principle, and he resisted attempts to repeat the practice in 1918–19 of giving priority to the needs of the economy, which had led to mutinies by long-serving men.

[1] His father was a prominent businessman and a member of the Bombay Legislative Council who was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1888,[2] was knighted in 1890,[3] and was created Baronet of Hankelow Court in Cheshire in 1917.

Parades and drill took up the mornings; in the afternoons he went horse riding, and played rugby, cricket, polo, hockey, golf and billiards.

[13] Four days after Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 5 August 1914, N Troop was alerted to prepare to move to join the British Expeditionary Force in France.

[29] He became a brevet lieutenant colonel in July 1926,[30] and inherited the Baronetcy of Hankelow Court in the County of Chester as 2nd Baronet Forbes Adam on the death of his father on 22 December 1926.

[1] On 24 September 1937, he received the prestigious posting of Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley, with the temporary rank of major general, vice Gort, who became Military Secretary.

[40] To replace Field Marshal Sir Cyril Deverell as Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), Hore-Belisha considered Adam, Gort and Frederick Pile, all of whom were aged 52 or 53.

He decided to appoint Gort, who had a Victoria Cross and the Distinguished Service Order with two bars, and would make a fine public face of the Army.

Basil Liddell Hart then suggested that he revive the post of Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff (DCIGS),[41] and give it to Adam, "to be the thinking head whilst Gort provided the drive.

It considered that the French Army was invulnerable behind the Maginot Line, and therefore the Germans would most likely attempt to knock Britain out of the war by attacking its industry and commerce.

His efforts to prepare for amphibious warfare met grudging acceptance from the Royal Navy, which created a Combined Operations Centre at Eastney only to disband it soon after the war began.

[47] When in late May, the BEF was ordered to evacuate, Adam was given the task of organising the Dunkirk perimeter; Major General S. R. Wason took over command of III Corps.

[48] Ordered to leave on 26 May, Adam and Brigadier Frederick Lawson found a canvas boat on the sand dunes and rowed out to a waiting destroyer.

[49] Following his return from France on 31 May 1940, Adam was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command, responsible for the defence of the coastline from The Wash to the Scottish border.

It was during his year with Northern Command that he concluded that the army needed both more effective selection procedures and to ensure that soldiers understood the cause for which they were fighting.

On 1 June 1941 he was appointed Adjutant-General, the second military member of the Army Council and a key role with responsibility for all personnel, administration and organisational matters.

While there were those who felt that one's parents' ability to pay for an education did not necessarily imply the possession of leadership qualities,[60] it was considered that public school boys were imbued with good character, self-restraint, perseverance, and courage, and that participation in team sports promoted physical fitness and quick decision making—all characteristics that the Army considered desirable in its officers.

[62] Adam did not accept the traditional view that there was an "officer-producing class", but believed that men and women of innate ability could be found in all parts of the community.

Adam then wanted to expand the trial, but for his critics, it was clear evidence that he had finally crossed the line from socialism to full-blown Bolshevism.

When commanding officers in the Mediterranean and the 21st Army Group were surveyed in 1943 and 1944, they considered that there was little difference between the products of the Wozbees and those nominated by earlier means, suggesting that their training was more important.

[74] George MacDonald Fraser, the author of the Harry Flashman series of novels opined that "the general view throughout the Army was that they weren't fit to select bus conductors, let alone officers.

He and other senior officers recognised that the call of "King and Country", which had been so powerful in 1914, was not enough for a more sceptical generation; a citizen army had to be encouraged into battle, not just ordered.

However, the "Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die" attitude was still widespread almost a century after the Battle of Balaclava, and the leftward swing in British public opinion during the war years that resulted in a landslide for the Labour Party in the 1945 general election was blamed by some Conservatives on the ABCA, a charge Adam considered absurd.

[77] On an inspection tour of the Middle East Command in November 1943, Adam, by pure chance, encountered men who had been condemned to death and penal servitude for their part in the Salerno mutiny.

[80] He instituted a demobilisation system based on the "first in, first out" principle, in which the only criteria were age and length of service, and resisted attempts to repeat the practice in 1918–19 of giving priority to the needs of the economy.

[90] In retirement, Adam's progressive record as Adjutant-General made him highly sought after by civilian organisations working in the field of adult education.