During the battles for the defence of Belgrade in 1915, a number of fallen soldiers were buried along the walls of the Belgrade Fortress. After the First World War, their remains were collected and placed in the ossuary next to the Jaksic Tower. The ossuary is marked with a cross that is made of cannon barrels.

This monument commemorates the courageous Serbian soldiers who, under the command of Major Dragutin Gavrilovic, defended Belgrade from the united German and Austro-Hungarian armies. With their positions near the railway embankment on the Danube, the defenders of Belgrade prevented attacks by enemy soldiers from the Danube and the Sava. When it became clear that the capital had been lost, Gavrilovic called on the soldiers to storm the enemy to defend Belgrade. About 4,000 Serbian soldiers were killed in that battle and the Major himself was severely wounded.