Born on 23 August 1876, Digby Shuttleworth was educated at Bedford School, and joined the 3rd Gurkha Rifles in 1898. He served in India between 1912 and 1916, in Mesopotamia and Iran, and commanded the 39th Infantry Brigade in the Caucasus, as well as the 83rd Infantry Brigade, Army of the Black Sea, between 1917 and 1919. He was President of the Allied Commission of Control, Ottoman War Office, in 1920, and Commander of the 83rd Infantry Brigade during the Chanak Crisis, between 1920 and 1923. He was promoted to the rank of major general in 1929, was Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster General, Northern Command, India, between 1930 and 1932, and Commander, Kohat District, between 1932 and 1936.