Tink, I did not know that...attempting to re-trace their state of mind to come up with such a decision not to press forward, all I can come up with is that "maybe we don't really need to go forward with this war after all, if we just hesitate it will all go away?"
"Peace for our time" was a declaration made by the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his 30 September 1938 remarks in London concerning the Munich Agreement and the subsequent Anglo-German Declaration. (from Wikipedia)