An enthusiastic Salvationist in our front rank wore a high hat with a Salvation Army band round the crown.

Slipping behind him, Jeffries leapt upon his shoulders and deftly pushed the high hat over his eyes, whilst wriggling into the desired position.

"[4] Jeffries was proselytized with between 20 and 30 other 'Skeletons' at a meeting they had come to disrupt in Whitechapel;[5] after his conversion he started to attend a Salvation Army corps, soon becoming an active Soldier.

Jeffries wrote in his diary: "In the Open-Airs my old mates gave me many a blow and kick - but I stuck fast.

[7] He was among the first Salvation Army officers to arrive in Australia, landing in Sydney in August 1884, and where he was Social Secretary for a period.

By now promoted to Adjutant, when he left Australia in March 1897 he had promoted the work of The Salvation Army by opening twelve new corps, established Rescue Homes and commenced Social Work in Adelaide and Melbourne, and had also married Captain Martha Harris and had four children.

Jeffries served in China from February 1918 until April 1919, when General Bramwell Booth summoned him back to London where he was appointed Commissioner.

In January 1922 Jeffries was appointed as Principal of the International Training College at Clapton, a post he held for nine and a half years.

He was a 'he-man', a quick-witted Londoner, a man of few words, always to the point, who could preach about hell-fire and the tail of the devil, so that we seemed to smell sulphur and brimstone!

He grabbed me with one hand, looked straight into my eyes and said: "Wickberg, if you are going to do the work of a Salvation Army Officer as you should, you will never have more time than you have here."

"[11] He was British Commissioner from 1931 to 1935, making him responsible for The Salvation Army's evangelical work in the United Kingdom.

However, he continued to travel extensively on behalf of The Salvation Army, preaching the Gospel throughout the United States and Canada.

[1] At the time of his death in the Orange General Hospital in Orlando in Florida he had been preaching across the United States despite feeling unwell and was preparing to return to Australia to lead the Congress there.