February 4th, 1940 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Destroyers HMS Basilisk and Brilliant sail from Dover; the former with the Prime Minister, War Cabinet and Chief of Staff for Boulogne.U-17 had to break off her patrol due to serious engine trouble.
At 2125, the unescorted SS Leo Dawson was torpedoed by U-37 NE of Fair Isle. The master and 34 crewmembers were lost.
FINLAND: The Soviet offensive at Summa breaks down after heavy losses.
GIBRALTAR: The U.S. passenger liner SS Manhattan, detained at Gibraltar the previous day, is released, but not before British authorities seize 390 sacks of German mail. American diplomatic mail pouches, however, are not disturbed.
YUGOSLAVIA: The members attending the Balkan Entente meeting in Belgrade indicate they will remain neutral in the war between Britain, France and Germany.