Laid out in 1896, the cemetery contains over 200 burials of the First World War, most of them forming a war graves plot in Section D. An unusual feature of Comely Bank cemetery is that the granite headstones in the war graves plot lie flat, a decision made by Imperial War Graves Commission architect and native of Edinburgh, Sir Robert Lorimer. The Second World War plot is immediately in front and contains more than half of the 76 Second World War burials. The cemetery also contains the war grave of a member of the Finnish Legion and two non-war service burials.
