the hospital's operation was affected during world war ii. directors and those with higher positions in the hospital became political prisoners of war, followed by mass evacuation. to keep the hospital functioning, the principal, chief nurse, some graduate and some student nurses, two junior resident physicians, and some male helpers became the skeleton staff. in 1945, more than five hundred victims of shrapnel and bullets were admitted to the chinese general hospital, even occupying all available spaces in the corridors.