That is a British Pattern 1897 infantry officer's sword. The cypher on the blade and guard is that of George V (1910-1936). According to Bezdek's
Swords and Sword Makers of England and Scotland, the Army and Navy Cooperative Society was in business at 105 Victoria Street between 1890 and 1934. So the approximate timeframe for this sword would be between 1910-1934. The Army and Navy Cooperative Society was an outfitter, so the sword was likely made by another firm.
As to this sword's use, it was not just a dress sword. The blade was introduced in 1892 and was mated with the 1854 Pattern "gothic" hilt. The hilt was not satisfactory and was later replaced with a steel three-quarter basket hilt in 1895. In 1897, the inboard side of the guard was turned down (towards the blade end) to prevent fraying of uniforms. Robson cites an article from the
Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research from 1934 in which a correspondent recalls the that this pattern (1895 Pattern) served him excellently in hand-to-hand-fighting against the Dervishes in the Sudan, in a way that its predecessor could not have done. This sword came in two forms; a more robust service blade and a lighter 'piquet' or 'levee' blade. The blade has a broad fuller that runs about half of the length of the blade. The blade is unsharpened for about 2/3 of its length, resulting in a blade that has a dumbbell cross section. The blade is meant to be a lethal thrusting weapon. There are extensive discussions of this Pattern over on the Anitique and Military sub-forum of
www.swordforum.com.
So while many iterations of this Pattern probably did end up only being used for dress purposes (it is today--the 1897 is still currently used today), it was designed as a fighting weapon.
Jonathan