 At the outbreak of World War II , Chisholm , a conscientious objector , was declared unfit for military service on the basis of poor eyesight and a crooked arm . During the war he conducted performances with the Carl Rosa Opera Company in 1940 , and later joined the Entertainments National Service Association as a colonel touring Italy with the Anglo @-@ Polish Ballet in 1943 and served as musical director to the South East Asia Command between 1943 and 1945 . He first formed a multi @-@ racial orchestra in India , however after arguments with his superior , Col. Jack Hawkins , he was removed to Singapore . Here in 1945 he founded the Singapore Symphony Orchestra . Many of the musicians were ex @-@ prisoners of War , and from them Chisholm recruited Szymon Goldberg as leader . Goldberg had successfully hidden his Stradivarius violin up a chimney in the prison camp for three and a half years . Chisholm created a truly cosmopolitan orchestra of fifteen nationalities from East and West , which gave 50 concerts in Malaya within six months . After returning to Scotland , Chisholm married his second wife , Lillias , the daughter of Scottish composer Francis George Scott . In 1946 he was appointed professor of music at the University of Cape Town and director of the South African College of Music . 
