Boezinge is a little area just outside Ypres, lot's of industry.. the Diggers have been active there, but some felt it was controversial, because they ... dig up a whole site... they are basically amateurs , not professionals, so some felt they were doing damage or whatever... that's somewhat blew over now, and they in fact work together with the In Flanders Fields museum...
it's rather a unique thing that they got permission , these days you can't simply go out and start digging , the ministry has to approve it , and will only approve a dig if there's an imminent threat of loss of artifacts.. such as big buildings with big foundations... such as in the industrial area of town...
that also explains the problem for Johan, even if he knows a place where a tank is stuck in the ground, chances of getting a permit to dig it out are slim to none... doesn't matter that it's to reconstruct, to make a memorial, a dig hardly ever get's permission these days...