[1] Operating as a night fighter pilot, he was credited with 46 aerial victories, of which 45 were four-engine bombers, all of which claimed in Defense of the Reich.

Flying with this wing, Augenstein claimed his first aerial victory on 13/14 May 1943 over a Royal Air Force bomber aircraft.

[3] World War II in Europe began on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland.

Following the 1939 aerial Battle of the Heligoland Bight, Royal Air Force (RAF) attacks shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign.

Each sector named a Himmelbett (canopy bed) would direct the night fighter into visual range with target bombers.

[9] Defending against this attack, Augenstein shot down a Handley Page Halifax 6 km (3.7 mi) southwest of Raalte.

The RAF lost 43 aircraft that night, including a Lancaster bomber shot down by Augenstein 8 km (5.0 mi) northeast of Deventer.

[16] On the night of 2/3 November, flying from an airfield at Dortmund, Augenstein claimed his last three aerial victories during a RAF raid on Düsseldorf.

[18][Note 2] On the night of 7 December 1944, Augenstein's Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 (Werknummer 140078—factory number) was shot down 10 km (6.2 mi) northwest of Münster-Handorf by a De Havilland Mosquito night fighter of the Fighter Interception Unit, flown by RAF ace Flight Lieutenant Edward Richard Hedgecoe and Flight Sergeant J.R.

[20] Augenstein and his Bordfunker Feldwebel Günther Steins were killed but his air gunner Unteroffizier Kurt Schmidt bailed out unhurt.