Ernest Adam was trained as a dentist, but was not working at the time he enlisted on October 30, 1917, giving his occupation as 'previously a dentist'. He was then 36 years old, married to Beatrice Mayflower Adam and living at 115 George St., East Melbourne.

He had had previous military experience, including 12 months in the Senior Cadets and four years in the Victorian Garrison Artillery. He joined the AAMC Dental Corps, was given the rank of Lieutenant, and embarked on the HMAT Nestor at Port Melbourne, bound for Suez, on November 21, 1917. He seems to have remained at Suez until January, 1918, when he left on the Abbassich, disembarking at Taranto and a week later, going on to Southampton. He spent a year in England and was then discharged from further service, leaving for Australia on board HMAT Ulysses on March 25,  1919. By 1928, he was living at 174 Power St. Hawthorn, and working as a dentist, moving back to Toorak by 1931. He died in 1964 at Plenty, Victoria.