OED Appeals: Origin of “bimble”

Question

The OED has made a public appeal for help in tracing the history of some English words, including:

bimble

verb earlier than 1983

The word bimble, meaning ‘to move at a leisurely pace’, is sometimes said to have originated amongst British soldiers serving in the Falklands, and much of our early evidence supports this. However, one of our correspondents, who grew up in the north-east of England in the mid-20th century, says he remembers the word bimble from his childhood there. We’re looking for earlier evidence of the word to uncover the real story: is bimble a military coinage of recent vintage, or a north-eastern English dialect term with a longer history?

Here is the earliest example currently in OED for the verb bimble:

1983 R. McGowan & J. Hands Don’t cry for Me, Sergeant Major iv. 81 When the Marines moved at a slower pace they were ‘bimbling’.

Can you help us trace the origins of this word?

Answer 1

I recall using this word in the Royal Navy in the 1970s — prior to the Falklands Conflict.

Answer 2

From The First Saint Omnibus: An Anthology of Saintly Adventures (1939), page 269:

But the Duchess starts bimbling And wambling and wimbling And threatens to wallop his ducal behind;

Such a lovely phrase.