Ken Adam was born in Berlin, Germany. His family moved to England in 1934, when Adam was 12 years old. Later, he attended London University training to be an architect. Although he was still a German national, he served as a pilot for the RAF during World War II. This was a brave move: if he had been shot down and captured, instead of being sent to a prisoner of war camp, the Germans would have been able to hang him as a traitor. Adam was the only German national to be an RAF fighter pilot. He was later naturalised as a British citizen and was knighted in 2003 by Queen Elizabeth II.
