Hans Ritter von Adam
Hans Ritter von Adam, born Hans Adam (24 May 1886 – 15 November 1917), was a Bavarian flying ace in World War I, with 21 victories before being killed in action. He enlisted as an infantry private, and rose through the ranks to be commissioned an officer. His valor earned him his nation's highest awards, including one that posthumously raised him to nobility. Background Hans Ritter von Adam was born as Hans Adam on 24 May 1886, in Bayerisch Eisenstein in the Lower Bavaria region of the Kingdom of Bavaria (a town now divided between Germany and the Czech Republic), son of a railway official, Andreas Adam, and his wife Hildegard née Fischer. Hans Adam entered the Royal Bavarian Army as a one-year volunteer (Einjährige-Freiwilliger) on 1 October 1906, serving in the 4th Infantry Regiment in Metz. He then became a businessman in Munich. By the time World War I began, Adam was married, with two children. Military service Adam returned to service as a lieutenant in the Bavarian Landwehr (Leutnant der Landwehr) when World War I began. He was assigned to the Bavarian 15th Reserve Infantry Regiment. He fought in the Battle of the Frontiers and while fighting around