Within the cemetery stands the Cassino Memorial which commemorates over 4,000 Commonwealth servicemen who took part in the Italian campaign and whose graves are not known.

During the Battle of Monte Cassino, Cassino saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Italian Campaign, the town itself and the dominating Monastery Hill proving the most stubborn obstacles encountered in the advance towards Rome.

The majority of those buried in the war cemetery died in the battles during these months.

[4][5] One soldier memorialized on the cenotaph is Yeshwant Ghadge (1921–1944), who served in the 5th Mahratta Light Infantry in the British Indian Army.

Another is Dan Billany, who served in the East Yorkshire Regiment and was also a novelist, who disappeared after escaping from enemy captivity in 1943.