Nijmegen was liberated in September 1944 by American paratroopers and the XXX British Corps as part of Operation Market Garden. Because the Battle of Arnhem was lost to the Allies, Nijmegen became a front city. German troops would bombard the city for months before the Allies finally pushed the Germans back in February 1945.

Burials of Allied dead began as early as December 1944 at the then nearby Pensionaat Jonkerbosch. The approximately 400 already buried dead were exhumed in 1947 and reburied in the current cemetery.

Jonker Bos War Cemetery rests soldiers from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland and Russia. In addition, there are graves of 98 unknown servicemen.