Article by LCol Don Chipman (Ret’d)
08 January 2025
The Revelstoke Review recently published a short announcement concerning Bob Lymburne, who served with the Royal Canadian Engineers during the Second World War:
A special letter was received by a local couple from Revelstoke’s famous ski jumper, Bob Lymburne. At the time, he was serving with the No.1 Railway operating Company, the Royal Canadian Engineers in France. The letter spoke about his service and the numerous other Revelstoke men who happened to be in the same company as himself. Lymburne was known for breaking the world record with a jump of 287 feet on the local hill in 1933.
Being curious, I sought to find more information about Bob.
Robert Samuel "Bob" Lymburne was born in Ontario and moved with his family to Revelstoke, British Columbia when he was 2 years old. He grew up on the family farm and from the time he was a boy, he was an avid Nordic skier with ski jumping being his passion. From a small jump he built on the farm as a teenager, he moved to competitive jumping. He competed in the 1932 Lake Placid Olympics as part of Team Canada. In 1933, he set a Canadian record of 287 feet (87.5 meters) at Mount Revelstoke surpassing his previous record (269 Ft, 82 M) set at Lake Placid. In 1935, while competing in Revelstoke, he sustained a serious head injury and concussion. He retired from competition and ski jumping as a result.
Bob Lynburne worked for the Canadian Pacific Railroad as a fireman. During the Second World War, he and many others from the CPR, served in No. 1 Railway Operating Company, Royal Canadian Engineers. The company was initially formed in North Bay and Stratford, Ontario. They moved to the United Kingdom in July 1943 and operated British railway equipment. They landed in Normandy in September 1944 and repaired, maintained and operated French railways near the front. As the Allies advanced, the Canadians moved through Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany repeating the process of repairing, maintaining and operating railway equipment before handing it back to civilian operators well behind the front lines. As operations slowed after the surrender of Germany, they were withdrawn to Canada starting in October 1945.
Bob returned to work for the CPR, but apparently continued to suffer from his ski jumping injury and reportedly exhibited strange behaviour. One day in 1957, he wandered into the woods and was never seen again. As no body was ever found, we do not have a precise date of death for Bob. Suffice to say, the mystery remains.