In the centenary of the final year of the Great War, the Anzac myth continues to inform a popular history of the superiority of Australian soldiers in combat. The myth makes much of the qualities of Australians, and is prominent in the Official Histories written or edited by C.E.W. Bean. Bean's notion that Australian soldiers were superior because Australia was a frontier nation whose people possessed initiative, resourcefulness, and moral and physical courage continues to influence popular history. This paper critically examines the myth. It details how Australian soldiers developed into a disciplined and professional element of the British Army because of Australia's place in the Empire. In this, Australian troops followed standardised training, gained hard earned experience, and were technically enabled by the British Army. Indeed, Australian forces on the Western Front - trained in this pattern - informed the way in which Australia has gone to war since. Aside from the Australian contributions to the battlefield historiography of 1916-1918, the paper will provide details of the processes the AIF followed in preparing its soldiers for operations; these same methods have remained the practical manifestation of the nation's defence contribution to a "big and powerful friend" since.