Continued air-raid alarms caused much time to be wasted , and it was decided that the hospital staff must carry on work , under cover , on the ground floor .
The hospital air - raid shelter was in the Pharmacist's Store . The walls were very thick , and the store was divided by two partitions with large shelves which were made into bunks and fitted with mattresses . At the beginning , these bunks were used as sleeping billets for the night duty staff , but later , all the staff slept in this shelter .
On this day the first trouble arose with the Chinese employees , who always ran down to the tunnels under the hospital when an air raid started . Here they would remain and refuse to emerge to perform their passive defence duties . It was necessary therefore to lock the entrance to the tunnels . Thereupon , the Chinese threatened to leave the hospital altogether . They only agreed to remain provided they were permitted to shelter in a baggage room attached to No. 1 Ward . But , with a few exceptions , these Chinese were petrified with fear during air attacks .