As I recall, the Victor had a sort of guillotine arrangement for cutting through the hose if they couldn't wind it back in. The worry was that it cut through in an area where the hose was still partly wound on the drum. If the aircraft had been up at height for any length of time the part of the hose still touching the drum could freeze in place. When the aircraft descended into warmer air, the hose could suddenly be freed and drop off. This was not a problem somewhere like Ascension Island, but could have disastrous consequences over populated areas. As a result of this there were occasions when the crew chose not to cut the hose, but to land with it trailed. If there are any Victor men lurking here, I am sure they will but me right.
I don't think we had the cutting system on the Hercules, but relied on the fire axe! I have had a couple of occasions when the ALM had to wind the hose in manually. On the course they had told us it would take more than one person to achieve it. My ALM managed on his own - partly because he was a big chap, but also the hose was only partially out and probably hadn't got fully into the air flow.