In December 1942 the first transport of young men was sent to Norway. Trains with thousands of men were first sent to German camps where the workers were assembled. There they were selected after necessary administrative work and physical examination. Only the most fit were sent to Norway. The less fit were sent to work in Germany and France.

From Berlin they were transported by train to Stettin from where they were sent by boat to Oslo. The voyage lasted several days.

From Oslo they were transported to Trondheim in Mid-Norway where they were organized in groups and some sent even farther north, to Narvik. The rest remained in Trondheim.

In 1943 the ship Rigel transported two hundred Czech men to Narvik, and one man has described the hardships like this:

"The voyage lastet longer than planned and with the heavy storms we got sea-sick and vomited. As we were passing through mine zones we were all supposed to get rescue-vests, but only a few got it. Far worse was the lack of food and that we suffered from hunger. Not even the view of the beautiful small islands and fjords helped against the hunger."

(cited: J. Šefl: Za války v Norsku.  Rožmitál pod Třemšínem, 2009)