France, Feb. 1 -- Germany has returned hundreds of sound recordings of North African soldiers who were held as prisoners during World War I, helping to fill a major gap in Tunisia's war archives.

During the French protectorate in Tunisia, thousands of soldiers were conscripted to fight in World War I as part of the African colonial riflemen - the tirailleurs. But little remains today in terms of archives or recordings documenting Tunisia's role in the 1914-1918 conflict.

Now, a joint effort between the Lautarchiv of Humboldt University and the phonotheque of Tunisia's Centre for Arab and Mediterranean Music has helped recover these lost voices.

Funded by the German Lost Art Foundation, the project marks a step towards restoring a missi...