The memorial commemorates 40,682 Commonwealth forces (99% Indians) members who died during the Mesopotamian Campaign, from the Autumn of 1914 to the end of August 1921, and whose graves are not known.

[1] Originally located eight kilometres north of Basra, near the Shatt al-Arab River, it was moved southwest in 1997 to a battleground from the much more recent Gulf War.

[2] Without any ongoing efforts at maintenance by the CWGC the site is in a poor state of repair although approximately 62 of the 68 panels are still present and readable.

The BBC reported in 2016 that Colin Kerr, then the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) publicity director, said that a total of 30,000 Indian soldiers are not named on the Basra memorial, despite fallen British soldiers being named, only Indian officers are accorded with the honour.

Kerr added that the commission knew their identities and had launched a project to find ways to publicise them both in India and in Britain.