Toowong Cemetery opened in 1871 replacing the Milton/Paddington Cemetery (now the Lang Park site) that had, in turn, earlier replaced Brisbane’s first cemetery, the Moreton Bay Penal Cemetery located near Skew Street in the City. Toowong Cemetery’s Portion 10 developed into a military graves section. During the 1920-30s, ex-servicemen who came home but subsequently died from World War One-related injuries or illnesses, were given Commonwealth Government headstones at Portion 10.

In the early part of World War II, from March 1940 to December 1942, the graves of 79 servicemen who died while on active service in Brisbane were placed at Toowong. As Portion 10 drew close to capacity, military burials were shifted to Lutwyche Cemetery at the start of 1943. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has, so far, identified 379 Graves of war-related casualties scattered throughout Toowong Cemetery. Of these, over 100 are World War II casualties with the majority of these graves located in Portion 10.