Mel Barnett

Mel Barnett served in the British Army, but his older brother Ivor served in the Royal Navy and lost his life in May 1941 when his ship HMS Hood was struck by shells from the German battleship Bismarck and the cruiser Prinz Eugen, in the Battle of the Denmark Straight, with the loss of life of 1,418 crew members.

Prior to the War, Barnett was first interested in weightlifting at the age of 16, but it was during his time in the Army that Barnett that he developed his skills. While serving with the Army Physical Training Corps (APTC) in Egypt, he spent two years training with Egyptian national lifters in the immediate post-War years. After the War, Barnett became an instructor with the APTC and in May 1947, just two months after returning from overseas duties, he won the British light-heavyweight title at Derby, with a new British record. He also made his Great Britain début against Netherlands that year, and also raised his own British record.

Barnett retained his British title in 1948 and also set another British record in the international against France. He was selected for the London Olympics but sadly sustained a back injury in training and missed the Games. In 1949 Barnett added the British heavyweight title to his trophy collection when he defeated the two-time champion Alf Knight. At World Championships, Barnett finished third at Paris in 1950 in the unlimited class. At Europeans he won silver medals in 1950-51 and 1954, and, at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, added a bronze medal in the middle-heavyweight class, representing England. Four years later when the Games were in Cardiff he represented Wales. Barnett’s Olympic chance eventually came in 1952. After the first phase, the Military Press, he was lying in fourth place but gradually fell away until he failed to register a valid lift in the clean and jerk element.

After leaving the Army, Barnett became landlord of the Lower George Inn, Gloucester and later the Duke of York in Stroud, before returning to his native Wales and running the Ship Hotel in Barry.