I got to thinking about how many servicemen killed in action would either leave no or very few remains (killed in fiery plane crashes, sunk ships etc.) and how many were buried in cemeteries near the battlefield (as at Normandy, e.g.). Aside from the tragic telegrams reaching their families, how did their survivors commemorate their deaths? When did shipping remains home begin to become common (if ever)?
At least with the British Forces in Hong Kong whose bodies were recovered, most are buried in the local Stanley military cemetery and the Sai Wan War Cemetery.
This includes Canadian Brigadier John Lawson, who was killed in the battle of Wong Nai Chung Gap. He was initially buried by the Japanese (supposedly with honors) near where he fell. He is now buried at the Sai Wan War cemetery.
Canadian Sergeant-Major John Robert Osborn, the first Canadian VC receipt in World War 2, died after jumping on a grenade to save his unit during fighting near Mount Butler. He has no known grave, but is remembered, like many without a grave, on a memorial at the Sai Wan War cemetery.
Remains of British POWs who died in Taiwan, including those that were killed in the infamous Kinkaseki camp, were also moved to the Sai Wan War cemetery.
There are also major Commonwealth War grave cemeteries in Burma, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Some of those lost at sea, such as those from the HMS Prince of Wales are remembered at the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
I can touch a little bit on the shipping home of remains after World War II ended. This does come from my family history, but I have documentation so I think it avoids the issues with anecdotal evidence--mods can of course decide if it is or is not.
One of my grandmother's brothers (my great-uncle) was killed in France while serving in the US Army in February 1945, and I have several letters that were sent to my great-grandfather regarding his son's death. One of the letters is dated 14 April 1947 and was sent to my great-grandfather from the Office of the Quartermaster General in the War Department and signed by Brigadier General G. A. Horkan, Chief of the Memorial Division. The letter came with a photo of the cemetery where his son was buried (stated in the letter, though I do not have the photo). The letter concludes by saying that all remains in this temporary cemetery would remain there until they were either relocated to a permanent overseas American cemetery or returned to the US if the family so wished.
So what this indicates to me is that after the war ended the US Army had a system in place to inform the relatives of a deceased serviceman of the location where the deceased was buried as well as a line of communication for the family to request the body be sent stateside. I don't know if there would have been costs involved as there is no mention of anything like that in this letter I have. I also do not know if my great-grandfather ever expressly told the War Department what to do with his son's remains, as he is still located in the cemetery where he was in 1947 (it must have been made permanent some time later).
Australian servicemen who died overseas in both world wars were, where identified, reburied in the Commonwealth War Graveyards scattered throughout Europe and other theatres
Only two were returned to Australia for burial, both from WW1 - General Bridges, and the unknown soldier