IN 1998, News Shopper recognised 74-year-old scout-leader Dennis Turrell as one Bexley’s Unsung Heroes.

His 40-years of work within the Erith and Crayford scout district saw his name added to the roll of honour at London’s New Year parade in 1999 and he was presented with an engraved silver salver.

Last month Dennis, who lived in Albert Road, Belvedere, was diagnosed with cancer and died two weeks later, aged 88.

It was Dennis’ friend Peter Russell, of Iverhurst Close in Bexleyheath, who nominated him for the award, 51-years after the pair met on a summer scout camp in 1947.

Speaking to News Shopper in 1999, Dennis said: “Awards are always very nice but they are so much better when they have been recommended by your own scouts.”

Peter met with Dennis for the last time when he was first told he had four weeks to live and recalls him saying he “wasn’t frightened and was ready to go.”

The funeral itself, held at Eltham Crematorium on Wednesday (May 2), “was packed to the rafters.”

Speaking of his first meeting with the scout-leader, Peter said: “Den's arrival was like a breath of fresh-air, bringing a military sense of order and organisation, boundless enthusiasm and a kitbag of fascinating stories.

“He was highly intelligent, articulate and, perhaps most of all, a good listener.”

Dennis' achievements

For three-decades, Dennis allowed scouts to hold courses and camp on his land in Meopham and took boys on adventure trips in the UK and abroad.

He was awarded the highest scouting prize, the coveted Silver Wolf award, in 2005 which is granted at the personal discretion of the chief scout “for services of the most exceptional character.”

Peter described the award given to his friend as “a most fitting memorial to a lifetime of service to scouting.”

Despite under-going a triple heart by-pass in 1997, Dennis was still heavily involved in the Scout Fellowship in the years before his death.

Peter added: “I was fortunate to have been a member of “Den's Mob” and to have shared in a lifetime of adventure and fellowship with our old skipper.

“I firmly believe this is Den's true legacy, which will stay in my memory always.”