Otto (garden gnome)

Otto was a garden gnome who "lived" in Saint-Clément, Normandy, in the 20th century. He claimed 1905 as the year he was "born," and France as his nationality, despite having a German name. In World War I, the Imperial German Army occupied Saint-Clément during the Schlieffen Plan, and two of Otto's owners were killed by Germans. Determined not to stand idly by while such a disaster happened a second time, Otto intervened in an act of World War II - when a German sniper laid in wait in Otto's garden for an American patrol during the Normandy invasion, Otto jumped off the wall, tricking the sniper into shooting at him (which nicked Otto's shoulder), but giving the sniper's position away and allowing the Americans to shoot him. Though this was a violation of Faerie guidelines about interfering in the human world, no magical authority ever prosecuted Otto. Sgt. Sven Faelling, who took a shine to the little toy that had saved his life, received a promise from Otto's erstwhile owner to mail Otto to him after the war, but for some reason this never happened.