After the occupation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941, the Germans established a prison camp in Maribor for soldiers of the former Yugoslav Army, Greece, France, and Great Britain (including Australians and New Zealanders).
British, Australian, and New Zealand soldiers were captured in mainland Greece, Crete, and North Africa.
By the end of 1943, fifteen British, three Yugoslav, and three French soldiers had died in the Maribor camp. They were buried in the Pobrežje Cemetery, behind the tomb of soldiers from the First World War. By the end of the Second World War in 1945, the number of deceased prisoners of war had increased further. After the war, some of their remains were exhumed and buried at the military cemetery in Belgrade, while the rest were moved to the mass grave of Soviet prisoners of war during the cemetery's expansion.
In 1944, the Allies began air raids on Maribor, which was an important transport hub between the German Reich, the southern Balkans, and the Italian front. The targets of British and American bombers were mainly the transport infrastructure and the military industry in Tezno. During the daily bombings, German anti-aircraft artillery and fighters shot down at least six American bombers. The deceased American airmen were transported to Pobrežje Cemetery and buried behind the tomb of soldiers from the First World War.
After the war, the identified remains of the airmen were transported to the USA, while the others were buried next to the burial site of the Soviet prisoners of war.