In the middle of December the division returned to the line, moving via Forlì to Faenza, where it spent the winter months, divisional RE working on road maintenance, mine clearance, and repairing the floodbanks of the River Lamone. For 56th (L) Division the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy began on 5 April with an operation to clear a triangle of ground between the River Reno and the south-west corner of Comacchio Lagoon. 220 Field Co built a Class 40 and a Class 12 raft at dusk, ready to be towed into position, when No 1 Platoon would cross with the infantry. Then 221 and 501 Fd Cos were to build a Bailey pontoon bridge at dawn the following day. The infantry assault went in at 23.00 and early on 6 April a tug pulled the Class 40 raft up, to be loaded with a bulldozer. Unfortunately there were still Germans dug in on the far bank, who sank the raft with an anti-tank (A/T) rocket, the dozer driver being drowned. In the subsequent firefight and recovery attempts led by the CRE, Lieutenant-Colonel R.E.C. Hughes, the OCs of 220, 501 and 563 Cos, and the Regimental Sergeant Major all became casualties. After a tank shelled the Germans, the post surrendered to Lieutenant-Colonel Hughes. The sappers then cleared dozens of mines from the approaches to allow the pontoon bridge to be built.