Curzio Malaparte enlisted in the French army at 16

Curzio Malaparte is a writer who volunteered for the French army in 1914. He deceived the authorities about his age when he was only 16 years old, after escaping from the Cicognini boarding school and crossing the border at Ventimiglia on foot. This youthful experience preceded his service on the Italian front and his decoration with the Croix de Guerre.