At sea
SprueStack Zero Hour: WW2 day by day
1 February 1940
What happened on this day in the Second World War, from 1939 to 1945, with a source for every entry.
About this page
Each day we list events from the Second World War that happened on that date, from 1939 to 1945. Every entry names its source and links to it, so you can read further. Entries are sourced and machine-screened before they go up, a subset is human-reviewed, and we add more over time.
8 sourced entries for this date.
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Entries
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At sea
U.S. freighter Exminster is detained by British authorities at Gibraltar (see 9 February); freighters Exochorda (detained since 30 January) and Jomar (detained since 31 January) are released.
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The Soviet army captures Summa, an important defence point in Finland, thereby breaking through the Mannerheim Line.
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1 February: The Japanese Diet announces a record high budget with over half its expenditures being military.
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The Finns continue retreat from the Mannerheim Line.
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Diplomatic record
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State
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Diplomatic record
The Minister in Sweden (Sterling) to the Secretary of State
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Diplomatic record
The Consul General at Geneva (Tittmann) to the Secretary of State
Sources listed with each entry. Spotted an error? Tell us.
1 February in other years 19411942194319441945
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