Killed in action, he and his twin brother Pieter were members of an army patrol that had a brief encounter with a group of PLAN insurgents. The latter scattered and were followed up by the patrol. On approaching a kraal where they believed some of the insurgents might be hiding, the section dumped their excess kit and fanned out to search the kraal, leaving Andries and Pieter Blaauw to guard the kit. Apparently, while so deployed, a group of insurgents came upon the two brothers, having followed the army patrol's tracks to the kraal. Andries and Pieter spotted them when they were quite close and, taking cover as best they could either side of a tree, they opened fire on the insurgents. The fire fight lasted only five minutes before the insurgents once again fled, but Andries was mortally wounded during the exchange of fire