John Allan, born in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, was the son of Salvation Army officers from Scotland.

[1] He played cornet in the New York Staff Band for twenty years[2] and published various music pieces.

However, in 1918, he joined the United States Army as a chaplain with the US 77th Division in Europe during World War I.

After the war, Allan returned to Salvation Army work in New York until 1923, then divisional commander from 1923 to 1933.

[1] From 1940 to 1942, during World War II, Allan was second to William Arnold, the Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army in Washington, DC.