While we're talking of practice bombs, can I relate a story from a pilot I once knew? Before he went to 467 Sqn and joined up with my great uncle's crew, then-F/L DPS (Phil) Smith was a pilot instructor at the OTU at Honeybourne, having previously completed a tour on Wellingtons with 103 Sqn. He was flying Whitleys when this incident happened in April 1943. I quote from a manuscript he wrote after the war for his grandson:
Before a trainee crew could be passed out, each one had to reach a fixed standard in bombing exercises. Our flight had got behind in bombing and so we had not been delivering our quota of trained crews. We had been doing the exercises but had not been getting all the required results. mainly because our practice bombs had been 'hanging up' [...] I had taken a trainee crew up when we were being pressed to get results and, on this occasion again, we were one bomb short of our quota. I was very irritated to have another failure on my hands and was determined to find out what was happening. When we had landed and arrived at our dispersal hard standing, I ordered the crew not to open the bomb doors as is normal at that stage until I had got out and was ready to check on the bomb release gear. When I was ready, I called out for the bomb doors to be opened and as soon as this happened, the missing bomb fell out in front of my face. It had not fallen far enough to turn head down and so did not go off. This was an awful shock...
Whoops!
Adam