Background
Digby was born in Ealing, London, the son of William Digby (writer), who was in the Indian Civil Service.
Digby was born in Ealing, London, the son of William Digby (writer), who was in the Indian Civil Service.
Digby was educated at Quernmore School, Bromley, and undertook his medical studies at Guy"s Hospital, London, where he was a prize-winning student (holding the Michael Harris, Hilton and Beaney Prizes) and where he gained his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Science in 1907 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1910.
The K. H. Digby Memorial Scholarship was established in his honour at the University. He was House Surgeon and Resident Obstetric Attendant at the hospital. In 1913 he first went to work in Hong Kong.
He worked at the University of Hong Kong, holding various Professorships, for many years.
In 1939 he was awarded the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Posts held
Surgical Registrar and Anæsthetist to Guy’s Hospital, 1909-1911
Principal Medical Officer, Great Central Railway, 1912
Professor of Anatomy, University of Hong Kong, 1913-1923
Professor of Surgery, University of Hong Kong, 1923-1945
Ho Tung Professor of Clinical Surgery, University of Hong Kong, 1915-1945
Honorary Consultant in Surgery to Government of Hong Kong, 1915-1948
Surgeon, Queen Mary Hospital, 1930-1948
engaged in research work, at Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1949 onwards
Emeritus Professor of Surgery, University of Hong Kong, 1950
Digby was interned in Stanley internment camp, Hong Kong during the war. He retired from Hong Kong to England in 1949.
In 1955, the year after his death, the K. H. Digby Memorial Fund was set up at the University of Hong Kong. Professor Digby will be remembered for his excellent teaching, his enthusiasm in the wards, his infectious laugh and humour, and his stern discipline in the operation theatre.
He was a big man in every sense of the word.