During August and September 1326, Edward mobilised his defences along the coasts of England to protect against the possibility of an invasion either by France or by Roger Mortimer. Fleets were gathered at the ports of Portsmouth in the south and Orwell on the east coast, and a raiding force of 1,600 men was sent across the English Channel into Normandy as a diversionary attack. Edward issued a nationalistic appeal for his subjects to defend the kingdom, but with little impact. The regime's hold on power at the local level was fragile, the Despensers were widely disliked, and many of those Edward entrusted with the defence of the kingdom proved incompetent or promptly turned against the regime. Some 2,000 men were ordered to gather at Orwell to repel any invasion, but only 55 appear to have actually arrived.