As soon as these extensions were completed and in operation an urgent request was sent in for more men. Eventually a much larger number were sent than were required of P.B. men. (Permanent Base men are those who are no longer fit for service in the front areas.) These were with the Unit only a few days when orders were received to despatch to hospitals in another area a draft larger in number than the one received. This took away several old members of the Unit and left it shorter handed than ever, but the Unit “carried on” and did its work under difficulties. Constant changes were taking place in the staff. Capt. J. M. Stewart, nephew of the O.C., came to the Unit shortly after arrival in France from No. 1 C.C.S., and in August, 1916, Capt. F. V. Woodbury, Capt. M. A. MacAulay, Capt. John Rankine and Capt. Edgar Douglas were posted to other duties. Capt. E. K. Maclellan was posted to another hospital in March, 1917. Numerous officers from other parts of Canada were detailed for duty with this Unit from time to time. One of the most popular of these was Captain Ireland, of Ontario, who afterwards received the M.C. and was killed in action. On December 31, 1916, the hospital at Le Havre was handed over to the Royal Army Medical Corps and the personnel of Dalhousie Unit, which had been carrying on there, marched to Harfleur and joined the balance of the Unit. Once more the whole Unit was united and experienced a very general sense of satisfaction. Ample provision had been made for quarters, mess, dental offices and orderly room. In January and February, 1917, the weather was very severe, with steady, keen frost and a good deal of snow, “But,” as Colonel Stewart puts it, “the bitterest memories are the indescribable mud, deep, tenacious and slippery.” As spring approached it looked as if the summer were to be spent in the beautiful Lezard Valley, in which Harfleur was situated, and consequently potatoes and other vegetables were planted, shrubs set out and other work done with a view to beautifying the grounds. It was beginning to seem quite like home here. All the troops coming to France en route to the Front came through this base, and many Nova Scotians were met and old acquaintances renewed. Also a good many Nova Scotia boys trickled in to the hospital, and when they did they were lavished with attention, and all the nurses and orderlies wanted to wait on them, and the pipers, too, would manage to make themselves heard and many a lad’s eye was made brighter when he heard again the skirl o’ the pipes.