Michaelvk
The story is indeed true, but the aircraft was a VC10, the load was AIM9 Sidewinders ,fully assembled and ready to rock!
They were on the way to the Task Force headed to the Falkland Islands.
A friend of mine was one of the armourers tasked with reinserting the pins on arrival.
Needless to say , no one had any hot dinners on the way down as the seeker heads were armed.