In the story The Cay, does Phillip understand the danger he's in?

As he is still only a young boy, and therefore somewhat naïve, Phillip doesn't quite fathom the full extent of the danger he's in. The only knowledge of war that Phillip has comes from reading books; he has no firsthand experience, and so doesn't have any in-depth understanding of war and all the horrors it entails. At first, when the Germans attack the island of Aruba, Phillip sees it as being terribly exciting, an awfully big adventure. For Phillip, war is something that happens to other people, and so he feels remote from any threat it might represent. But when the Empire Tern is torpedoed, Phillip is immediately disabused of any romantic notions as to what war might entail. He now knows that it means nothing but death and destruction.