dragoons

The fellow standing on the left (not the lurker) has on his right forearm a "four-bar Chevron" which evidently denotes years of overseas service in WW1.

The Overseas Service Chevron was created by the British Army on 20 December 1917 and was awarded for each year of overseas service. It was retroactive to December 31, 1914, and was eligible for award until May 1, 1920.
Overseas service was calculated from the day the soldier disembarked from the United Kingdom. A blue chevron was awarded for each 12 months of overseas service after December 31, 1914, with a maximum of 4 blue chevrons (or 5 if the soldier served in Russia after the war). A single red chevron could be awarded for at least a year or more of overseas service before December 31, 1914, and was worn under the blue chevron(s). The Overseas Chevrons were worn on the lower right sleeve of the uniform jacket. Official wear was discontinued in 1922."
From - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Service_Chevron#
Also - lawranceordnance.com

Which might imply the photo is 1918 - 1922 (??)

The fellow seated second from right (smoking a cigarette with ash on his leg!) has chevrons on his left forearm denoting 'Long Service/Good Conduct Badge'. See the second link above.
Edit - He also has a medal bar on his chest. No idea what ...

beachcomber australia Alright, hazarding 1918-1922? above.

Football team and ball?

We have encountered Mr J.S. Coombs the photographer previously. Based in Portland, UK. I wonder if this and another photo are somewhere near Portland ?
catalogue.nli.ie
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland/53705945897/]

brave brave men....what they must have been feeling...

takeing into account the camras of this era the capture of a moveing subject is remarkable, outstanding,

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called a Picture, a Story!, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

They are Spahis, and usually described as French Algerian cavalry rather than dragoons. Are they charging along the beach at Nieuwpoort - it doesn't look like the sea in the background? Given that they are Algerian, would the sand be more likely to be in North Africa? There are a number of similar photos of what are staged charges, called 'razzias' [sp?] which North African horsemen were famous for - this looks like one rather than a 'charge into battle' shot. Nonetheless it is a great photo.

Wow ! Where are these times gone

This could be either of two French communes with Ribecourt in their name. They are in close proximity to each other, and are both in same region as the other Bain Collection photos. They are Ribécourt-Dreslincourt and Ribécourt-la-Tour.

Original Agence Meurisse photo (Meurisse catalog number at right and bottom of Bain negative), published in 1914, at Gallica site has a different caption:

A Ribecourt : une patrouille de premiers cuirassiers et de spahis marocains



Pub. Date 1914

Information on the First Moroccan Spahi cavalry regiment, organized in 1914, at
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1er_R%C3%A9giment_de_Spahis_Marocains

artolog: Thanks for providing us with the source, date, and original caption for this photograph. We'll include this information next time we update the description.

see also