Background
Dignan was born on 25 July 1920 in Dublin, Ireland, to Joseph Dignan. Dignan and his four brothers were pushed to be doctors after his father saw that very few doctors were casualties of the First World War.
Dignan was born on 25 July 1920 in Dublin, Ireland, to Joseph Dignan. Dignan and his four brothers were pushed to be doctors after his father saw that very few doctors were casualties of the First World War.
He graduated from the medical school at Trinity College, Dublin in 1943 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, Bachelor in the Art of Obstetrics.
He qualified as a surgeon in 1947 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (FRCSI). Having been called up for National Service, Dignan was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps as a lieutenant on 7 May 1950. He was given the service number 410605.
One year later, on 7 May 1951, he was promoted to captain.
He was posted to Malaya during the Malayan Emergency, and served as the only surgeon at Kamunting Military Hospital in Taiping. On 16 June 1952, he transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers.
This signalled the end of his national service and his first period of active service. He died on 11 October 2012.
