There does not seem to be too much conspiracy in this history.
Notice how the generals tried to blame Hitler. Rundstedt called the halt because of going for his tanks and supply problems. Hitler visited to see for himself and obviously was convinced by the generals - "Hitler endorsed the order..."
Manstein described it as Hitler's greatest mistake but Hitler gave all due diligence by coming to France, listening to his commander on the spot and endorsing Rundsted's order. Manstein and the others raged later at Hitler over riding generals' orders but when it suits him reverses his position.
The Air Force said they would do the job, giving the allies time to prepare and the French put up a wall to let the British escape.
Main article: Battle of Dunkirk
By 24 May, the Germans had captured the port of Boulogne and surrounded Calais.[30] The engineers of the 2nd Panzer Division under Generalmajor Rudolf Veiel built five bridges over the Canal Line and only one British battalion barred the way to Dunkirk.[40] On 23 May, Rundstedt had ordered the panzer units to halt, concerned about the vulnerability of his flanks and the question of supply to his forward troops.[41][42][43] He was also concerned that the marshy ground around Dunkirk would prove unsuitable for tanks and he wished to conserve them for later operations (in some units, tank losses were 30–50 percent).[44][45] Hitler was also apprehensive, and on a visit to Army Group A headquarters on 24 May, he endorsed the order.[44]
Air Marshal Hermann Göring urged Hitler to let the Luftwaffe (aided by Army Group B[46]) finish off the British, to the consternation of Halder, who noted in his diary that the Luftwaffe was dependent upon the weather and air crews were worn out after two weeks of battle.[47] Rundstedt issued another order, which was sent uncoded. It was picked up by the RAF Y service at 12:42: "By order of the Fuhrer ... attack north-west of Arras is to be limited to the general line Lens-Bethune-Aire-St Omer-Gravelines. The Canal will not be crossed."[48][49] Later that day, Hitler issued Directive 13, which called for the Luftwaffe to defeat the trapped Allied forces and stop their escape.[50] At 15:30 on 26 May, Hitler ordered the panzer groups to continue their advance, but most units took another 16 hours to attack.[51] The delay gave the Allies time to prepare defences vital for the evacuation and prevented the Germans from stopping the Allied retreat from Lille.[52]
The halt order has been the subject of much discussion by historians.[53][54] Guderian considered the failure to order a timely assault on Dunkirk to be one of the major German mistakes on the Western Front.[55] Rundstedt called it "one of the great turning points of the war",[56] and Manstein described it as "one of Hitler's most critical mistakes".[57] B. H. Liddell Hart interviewed many of the generals after the war and put together a picture of Hitler's strategic thinking on the matter. Hitler believed that once Britain's troops left continental Europe, they would never return.[58]
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